FIFA World Cup: Heavyweights stumble as minnows make their mark on the global stage

MIAMI GARDENS: The teams that are ranked 61st, 67th and 85th in FIFA's world rankings all were heavy underdogs in their first matches at the World Cup.

They all played Monday. None of them won. None of them lost, either.

Through five days and 16 matches of soccer's biggest extravaganza ever, the underdogs are proving to be very tough to beat. All four matches on Monday ended in ties - the most in a single day of men's World Cup play since 1958 - and all of them technically could be considered upsets as well.


The biggest win (that wasn't a win) of all saw Cape Verde - ranked No. 67 and in its World Cup debut - hold No. 2 Spain, a favorite to win the whole thing, 0-0 in what easily has been the biggest shocker of the tournament to this point.

"It means everything," said Cape Verde coach Pedro Leitao Brito, who simply goes by Bubista.

The other Monday results:

- No. 85 New Zealand, the lowest-ranked team out of the 48 qualifiers entering the World Cup, tied No. 20 Iran 2-2.

- No. 61 Saudi Arabia tied No. 16 Uruguay 1-1.

- No. 29 Egypt tied No. 9 Belgium 1-1.

For Monday's underdogs, the ties were a pretty big deal. But even they knew what the Cape Verde score meant in the grand scheme of things.

Brazil to win FIFA World Cup 2026? The biggest upset in World Cup history may be coming

"The draw involving Spain," Saudi Arabia coach Georgios Donis said, "may be the biggest surprise in this World Cup."

Four years ago, the Saudis opened with a shocking win over eventual champion Argentina.

The World Cup isn't like the NCAA tournament. Nobody is eliminated or assured of advancing no matter the outcome of their first match. But if this event was more like March Madness, it's certain that plenty of brackets would already be busted.

Spain was -1500 to beat Cape Verde according to odds posted just before the match started Monday. Those are overwhelming odds, ones that mean bettors would have had to wager $1,500 just to profit $100. And oddsmakers in Las Vegas said Spain was picked to win in a slew of parlays, all of which were quickly doomed.

FIFA World Cup 2026 Argentina Prediction: Will Lionel Messi's genius help Argentina win? It may depend on Cristiano Ronaldo

"This shows how difficult it is to play (the first game) in a World Cup," Uruguay's Maxi Araujo said. "We've seen that they are difficult - not only in our group, but in many groups."

He's right. And there's not much margin of error now in Groups F and H.

Teams are guaranteed three group-stage matches at the World Cup, one against each of the other three teams in their group. The top two finishers in each of the 12 groups are assured of reaching the knockout stage; the eight best third-place teams also will advance.

But in Group F (New Zealand, Iran, Belgium and Egypt) and Group H (Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Cape Verde), everyone has exactly one point with two matches left. Teams get three points for a win, no points for a loss.

"A lot of positives to build on," New Zealand's Elijah Just said.

The upsets-that-were-ties trend didn't start Monday. There were two other significant ones earlier in the tournament: No. 56 Qatar tied No. 19 Switzerland 1-1, and No. 64 Bosnia and Herzegovina tied No. 30 Canada 1-1.

Through the first 16 matches, eight ended in ties. The other two weren't exactly of the shocking variety: No. 18 Japan was a slight underdog going into its 2-2 tie with No. 8 Netherlands, and No. 6 Brazil and No. 7 Morocco - as would be expected, given how close they are in the world rankings - tied their opening match 1-1.

There's been only one match through Monday where a team was 10 or more spots below its opponent in the FIFA world rankings going in and won: No. 33 Ivory Coast beating No. 23 Ecuador 1-0.

Not exactly a shocker. But some of these ties would qualify as such.

"Football is like that," Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. "There are no small opponents here."