the world’s biggest footballing stage is
never short on shocking moments welcome
to watchmojo.com and today we’ll be
counting down our picks for the top ten
surprises of the 2018 World Cup group
stage before we begin we publish new
content every day so be sure to
subscribe to our Channel and ring the
bell to get notified about our latest
videos for this list will be ranking the
most unexpected moments and biggest
upsets so far in this year’s FIFA World
Cup as the group stage of the
competition is winding down from
individual players to team performances
number 10 russia’s hot starts being 70th
in the FIFA rankings right before the
tournament started you’d be forgiven for
wondering how Russia would handle this
group despite being the host nation
luckily for their fans and for Vladmir
Putin watching in the stands in the
tournament opener they’ve answered their
critics quite convincingly starting
their campaign with a five nil drubbing
of Saudi Arabia including one of the
goals of the tournament so far from
Dennis Chery Chev the sabor Nia followed
that up with a 3-1 win over Egypt to
punch their ticket to the last 16
although they lost three nil in their
final group game to Uruguay and have to
face Spain next one thing’s for sure
never underestimate home-field advantage
number nine Sweden top Group F while it
was a massive accomplishment for Sweden
to stun four-time world cup champions
Italy in the play-off round of the
European qualifying to make it to Russia
their group with Germany Mexico and
South Korea was still no small task for
a team no longer boasting sluttin
Ibrahimovic as a best player and yet
they still got the job done after
starting with a 1 nil victory over South
Korea Sweden would lose in a dramatic
fashion to a late Toni Kroos free-kick
as Germany defeated them 2-1 however
they’d later cruise to a three nil
victory over Mexico to top Group F on
goal difference and set up a last 16
clash against Switzerland number 8
Poland’s early exits Group H was
arguably the most highly competitive
group in this year’s tournaments with
Poland Colombia
and Japan each standing a decent chance
at advancing while Japan would pull off
an upset win against a Colombian team
they’ve lost him for one in Brazil four
years earlier the biggest shock of this
group came via Poland after a blistering
qualifying campaign where they lost only
once in ten games and with striking
powerhouse Robert Levin domsky racking
up 16 goals in that campaign Poland
could have made serious noise in this
group instead they lost their first two
games to one to Senegal and three nil to
Colombia sending them on the plane home
early to make matters worse $11 skis
goal tally is a goose egg number 7
Brazil tie with Switzerland boasting a
squad including the world’s most
expensive football player Neymar
alongside other attacking talent like
Phillip Cassini Oh Roberto Firmino and
Gabriel J Zeus Brazil are devastatingly
among the favourites to win it all this
year however their campaign got off to a
shaky start with a 1-1 draw against the
less fancied Switzerland the sella so
drew first blood thanks to Coates
yneouws screamer of a goal in the 20th
minute only to be canceled out by swiss
winger Steven Zuba early in the second
half though Brazil would top the group
with wins over Costa Rica and Serbia
this is the first time they failed to
win the opening game of their World Cup
Finals campaign since 1978 number 6 no
fairytale for Iceland this time the
Icelandic national football team with
the darlings of Euro 2016 as the country
with a population of 350,000 witnessed a
historic campaign this saw them make a
run to the quarterfinals placed in Group
D with Argentina Croatia and Nigeria it
was certainly possible for them to try
and make magic once again they started
their tournament with a shocked 1-1 draw
against Lionel Messi and company but
couldn’t build on it as they went on to
lose to nil to Nigeria and 2-1 to
Croatia and balance of Russia early we
were really hoping to hear some more of
those thunderclaps in the round
sixteen number five egypt crush out
early the season muhammad sallah had at
liverpool this year was nothing short of
dominance as the 25 year old egyptian
winger became the highest-scoring player
within one season in Premier League
history because of his brilliant form
Egypt was seen by some as a Dark Horse
pink for this year’s World Cup however
he suffered a shoulder injury in the
Champions League final in May
leaving doubts as to his fitness for the
tournament Egypt began their campaign
without him in a 1 nil opening loss to
Uruguay though he’d returned for their
next two losses to Russia and Saudi
Arabia as the pharaohs were eliminated
early despite Salah scoring in each of
their last two games
number 4 Messi blows a penalty a 31
years of age Leonel Messi remains one of
the best if not the best football
players on the planet in the first game
of what could be his last attempt to win
international football’s biggest prize
Messi had a delicious opportunity to get
his country’s campaign off to a great
start against Iceland with a game tied
at 1-1 in the 64th minute Argentina were
awarded a penalty after Maximiliano Meza
got fouled in the box by Iceland’s
holder Magnussen the five-time Ballon
d’Or winner Messi stepped up to the spot
only time it’s saved by goalkeeper
Hannah’s Hardison he’d eventually score
against Nigeria but if he wants to keep
pace with Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally of
four goals
Simon’s running outs number three hurry
came leading the Golden Boot race
England striker and captain Harry Kane
has become one of the most dominant goal
scorers in world football having won the
Premier League Golden Boot in 2016 and
2017 however he still needed to prove
himself as a true force for his country
in major tournaments after less than
stellar performances at Euro 2016 so far
he’s doing exactly that
Kane currently leads the World Cup goal
scoring chart with five goals thanks to
a brace in England’s opener against
Tunisia followed by a hat-trick
including two penalties in there
six-one thrashing of Panama Cristiano
Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku trail him with
four goals apiece but Cannes dangerous
presence up front means he could add
plenty more to his tally number two the
influence of var the 2018 FIFA World Cup
marks the first time var of video
assistant referee has been used in the
tournament’s where for referees watch
the game from a room while keeping
contact via radio with the referees on
the pitch while var has done its job in
correcting a number of missed calls with
penalties cards and goals it’s far from
perfect moments like Harry Kane being
brought down in the box against Tunisia
and Gerard piqué not getting sent off
against Morocco are only a couple of
examples of how var has fallen short of
the mark it’s an addition to the game
that is long overdue but it’s surprising
how frequently we’ve already seen it
being used and not always with positive
results number 1 Germany’s embarrassing
campaign the Champions League curse is
real just ask Francis 2002 World Cup
team
Italy’s 2010 team and Spain’s 2014 team
despite recent trends are not being kind
to defending champions Germany was still
a heavy favorite to at least make a deep
run in Russia if not went back-to-back
World Cups for the first time since
Brazil did it in 1962 instead they broke
a different record their first group
stage exit since 1938
a 1 nil opening loss to Mexico was a
blow they’d never truly recover from
getting a last-gasp 2-1 win over Sweden
before getting knocked out in a to nil
loss to South Korea a game they would
have advanced through have they won
maybe they should have brought Leroy
sunae on the plane after all do you
agree with our picks check out these
other great clips from watch mojo and subscribe for new videos every day
never short on shocking moments welcome
to watchmojo.com and today we’ll be
counting down our picks for the top ten
surprises of the 2018 World Cup group
stage before we begin we publish new
content every day so be sure to
subscribe to our Channel and ring the
bell to get notified about our latest
videos for this list will be ranking the
most unexpected moments and biggest
upsets so far in this year’s FIFA World
Cup as the group stage of the
competition is winding down from
individual players to team performances
number 10 russia’s hot starts being 70th
in the FIFA rankings right before the
tournament started you’d be forgiven for
wondering how Russia would handle this
group despite being the host nation
luckily for their fans and for Vladmir
Putin watching in the stands in the
tournament opener they’ve answered their
critics quite convincingly starting
their campaign with a five nil drubbing
of Saudi Arabia including one of the
goals of the tournament so far from
Dennis Chery Chev the sabor Nia followed
that up with a 3-1 win over Egypt to
punch their ticket to the last 16
although they lost three nil in their
final group game to Uruguay and have to
face Spain next one thing’s for sure
never underestimate home-field advantage
number nine Sweden top Group F while it
was a massive accomplishment for Sweden
to stun four-time world cup champions
Italy in the play-off round of the
European qualifying to make it to Russia
their group with Germany Mexico and
South Korea was still no small task for
a team no longer boasting sluttin
Ibrahimovic as a best player and yet
they still got the job done after
starting with a 1 nil victory over South
Korea Sweden would lose in a dramatic
fashion to a late Toni Kroos free-kick
as Germany defeated them 2-1 however
they’d later cruise to a three nil
victory over Mexico to top Group F on
goal difference and set up a last 16
clash against Switzerland number 8
Poland’s early exits Group H was
arguably the most highly competitive
group in this year’s tournaments with
Poland Colombia
and Japan each standing a decent chance
at advancing while Japan would pull off
an upset win against a Colombian team
they’ve lost him for one in Brazil four
years earlier the biggest shock of this
group came via Poland after a blistering
qualifying campaign where they lost only
once in ten games and with striking
powerhouse Robert Levin domsky racking
up 16 goals in that campaign Poland
could have made serious noise in this
group instead they lost their first two
games to one to Senegal and three nil to
Colombia sending them on the plane home
early to make matters worse $11 skis
goal tally is a goose egg number 7
Brazil tie with Switzerland boasting a
squad including the world’s most
expensive football player Neymar
alongside other attacking talent like
Phillip Cassini Oh Roberto Firmino and
Gabriel J Zeus Brazil are devastatingly
among the favourites to win it all this
year however their campaign got off to a
shaky start with a 1-1 draw against the
less fancied Switzerland the sella so
drew first blood thanks to Coates
yneouws screamer of a goal in the 20th
minute only to be canceled out by swiss
winger Steven Zuba early in the second
half though Brazil would top the group
with wins over Costa Rica and Serbia
this is the first time they failed to
win the opening game of their World Cup
Finals campaign since 1978 number 6 no
fairytale for Iceland this time the
Icelandic national football team with
the darlings of Euro 2016 as the country
with a population of 350,000 witnessed a
historic campaign this saw them make a
run to the quarterfinals placed in Group
D with Argentina Croatia and Nigeria it
was certainly possible for them to try
and make magic once again they started
their tournament with a shocked 1-1 draw
against Lionel Messi and company but
couldn’t build on it as they went on to
lose to nil to Nigeria and 2-1 to
Croatia and balance of Russia early we
were really hoping to hear some more of
those thunderclaps in the round
sixteen number five egypt crush out
early the season muhammad sallah had at
liverpool this year was nothing short of
dominance as the 25 year old egyptian
winger became the highest-scoring player
within one season in Premier League
history because of his brilliant form
Egypt was seen by some as a Dark Horse
pink for this year’s World Cup however
he suffered a shoulder injury in the
Champions League final in May
leaving doubts as to his fitness for the
tournament Egypt began their campaign
without him in a 1 nil opening loss to
Uruguay though he’d returned for their
next two losses to Russia and Saudi
Arabia as the pharaohs were eliminated
early despite Salah scoring in each of
their last two games
number 4 Messi blows a penalty a 31
years of age Leonel Messi remains one of
the best if not the best football
players on the planet in the first game
of what could be his last attempt to win
international football’s biggest prize
Messi had a delicious opportunity to get
his country’s campaign off to a great
start against Iceland with a game tied
at 1-1 in the 64th minute Argentina were
awarded a penalty after Maximiliano Meza
got fouled in the box by Iceland’s
holder Magnussen the five-time Ballon
d’Or winner Messi stepped up to the spot
only time it’s saved by goalkeeper
Hannah’s Hardison he’d eventually score
against Nigeria but if he wants to keep
pace with Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally of
four goals
Simon’s running outs number three hurry
came leading the Golden Boot race
England striker and captain Harry Kane
has become one of the most dominant goal
scorers in world football having won the
Premier League Golden Boot in 2016 and
2017 however he still needed to prove
himself as a true force for his country
in major tournaments after less than
stellar performances at Euro 2016 so far
he’s doing exactly that
Kane currently leads the World Cup goal
scoring chart with five goals thanks to
a brace in England’s opener against
Tunisia followed by a hat-trick
including two penalties in there
six-one thrashing of Panama Cristiano
Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku trail him with
four goals apiece but Cannes dangerous
presence up front means he could add
plenty more to his tally number two the
influence of var the 2018 FIFA World Cup
marks the first time var of video
assistant referee has been used in the
tournament’s where for referees watch
the game from a room while keeping
contact via radio with the referees on
the pitch while var has done its job in
correcting a number of missed calls with
penalties cards and goals it’s far from
perfect moments like Harry Kane being
brought down in the box against Tunisia
and Gerard piqué not getting sent off
against Morocco are only a couple of
examples of how var has fallen short of
the mark it’s an addition to the game
that is long overdue but it’s surprising
how frequently we’ve already seen it
being used and not always with positive
results number 1 Germany’s embarrassing
campaign the Champions League curse is
real just ask Francis 2002 World Cup
team
Italy’s 2010 team and Spain’s 2014 team
despite recent trends are not being kind
to defending champions Germany was still
a heavy favorite to at least make a deep
run in Russia if not went back-to-back
World Cups for the first time since
Brazil did it in 1962 instead they broke
a different record their first group
stage exit since 1938
a 1 nil opening loss to Mexico was a
blow they’d never truly recover from
getting a last-gasp 2-1 win over Sweden
before getting knocked out in a to nil
loss to South Korea a game they would
have advanced through have they won
maybe they should have brought Leroy
sunae on the plane after all do you
agree with our picks check out these
other great clips from watch mojo and subscribe for new videos every day
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