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Pak Doo-ik
Born
Pak Doo-ik's goal at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough beat Italy and sent North Korea, at their first World Cup in 1966, into the quarter-finals. The local crowd adopted the team. They then went 3-0 up against Portugal before Eusébio's four goals turned it. His strike remains the shorthand for a World Cup shock, but it came from a quick, fit, organised side that had trained together for years.
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Eusébio
Born
Portugal had never reached a World Cup before 1966. Eusébio scored nine goals in England, including four in the comeback from 3-0 down against North Korea, and took them to third place and the Golden Boot. Benfica teammates such as Mário Coluna and José Torres formed the spine, but it was Eusébio's tournament, and it put Portuguese football on the world map.
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Lakhdar Belloumi
Born
Algeria's debut at the 1982 World Cup opened with a 2-1 win over European champions West Germany, Rabah Madjer and Belloumi scoring. Belloumi, African footballer of the year in 1981, was the playmaker who made Algeria look comfortable against anyone. They went out only on goal difference after West Germany and Austria's notorious result, which changed how FIFA schedules final group games.
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Roger Milla
Born
Persuaded out of semi-retirement at 38, Milla came off the bench to score four goals at Italia 90, danced at the corner flag and took Cameroon to the quarter-finals, the first African side to get that far. The team had already beaten holders Argentina in the opener through François Omam-Biyik's header, with Thomas N'Kono and a fierce defence doing their part.
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Peter Schmeichel
Born
Denmark only played Euro 92 because Yugoslavia were excluded ten days before it began. Schmeichel's goalkeeping, including the shoot-out save from Marco van Basten in the semi-final, carried them to a 2-0 final win over Germany. Brian Laudrup, John Jensen and Kim Vilfort were vital too, but no underdog winner has relied more on its goalkeeper.
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Hristo Stoichkov
Born
Bulgaria had never won a World Cup match before 1994. Stoichkov's six goals, a shared Golden Boot, helped them beat Argentina in the group and holders Germany in the quarter-final on the way to fourth place; that December he won the Ballon d'Or. Yordan Letchkov's diving header beat Germany and Krasimir Balakov ran the midfield, so this was a golden generation, led by its fiercest player.
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Gheorghe Hagi
Born
Hagi's long-range lob against Colombia opened Romania's 1994 World Cup, and his passing ran a 3-2 last-16 win over Argentina, Ilie Dumitrescu scoring twice. Romania went out to Sweden only on penalties in the quarter-final. The Maradona of the Carpathians gave a mid-ranked side a creative player of world class, and the run is still Romania's best.
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Saeed Al-Owairan
Born
At their first World Cup in 1994, Saudi Arabia reached the last 16, sealed by Al-Owairan's run from his own half past several Belgian players for the only goal in Washington. It is still one of the great solo goals at a World Cup. Sami Al-Jaber and goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Deayea were the team's other mainstays, but that one run defined the campaign.
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Davor Šuker
Born
Croatia were playing their first World Cup as an independent country in 1998. Šuker scored in six of their seven matches, won the Golden Boot with six goals and opened the scoring in the semi-final against France, before Croatia took third place. Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinečki and Slaven Bilić gave the side its quality; Šuker gave it the finishing.
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El Hadji Diouf
Born
Senegal's World Cup debut in 2002 began by beating holders France 1-0, Papa Bouba Diop scoring after Diouf's run and cross. Diouf's pace and nerve made him the face of a team that reached the quarter-finals, equalling Cameroon's African record, before a golden goal against Turkey ended it. He was African footballer of the year in 2001 and 2002, and this was the tournament that showed why.
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Theodoros Zagorakis
Born
Greece arrived at Euro 2004 as 80-1 outsiders and beat hosts Portugal twice, in the opener and the Lisbon final. Captain Zagorakis was named player of the tournament for his midfield work in Otto Rehhagel's disciplined system; Angelos Charisteas headed the decisive goals against France and in the final. It is the purest case on this list of a collective, with Zagorakis as its symbol.
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Asamoah Gyan
Gyan scored three times at the 2010 World Cup, including the extra-time winner against the United States that took Ghana to the quarter-finals, Africa's best result at the time. Then he hit the bar with a last-minute penalty against Uruguay after Luis Suárez's handball, and missed. That he scored in the shoot-out minutes later says much about him; Kevin-Prince Boateng and André Ayew were also key.
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Keylor Navas
Born
Drawn with Uruguay, Italy and England at the 2014 World Cup, Costa Rica won the group. Navas conceded two goals in five matches, saved a penalty in the shoot-out win over Greece and kept the Netherlands out for 120 minutes in the quarter-final. Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz scored the big goals; Navas earned the move to Real Madrid that followed.
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Gareth Bale
Born
Wales had not played a major tournament since 1958 when Bale's goals carried them through qualifying for Euro 2016. In France he scored free-kicks against Slovakia and England and a goal against Russia, and Wales reached the semi-finals, beating Belgium on the way. Aaron Ramsey and Hal Robson-Kanu's Cruyff turn deserve their share, but Bale was the reason they were there at all.
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Hannes Þór Halldórsson
Born
Iceland, a country of about 330,000 people, reached the Euro 2016 quarter-finals by beating England, then drew with Argentina at their first World Cup in 2018 when Halldórsson saved Lionel Messi's penalty. A part-time film director as well as a goalkeeper, he anchored a side built on organisation, long throws and the Viking clap, with captain Aron Gunnarsson and joint coach Heimir Hallgrímsson as central figures.
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Luka Modrić
Born
Croatia, with about four million people, went through three successive extra-time knockout games at the 2018 World Cup and reached the final. Modrić played every minute he could, set the tempo and won the Golden Ball, then the Ballon d'Or. Ivan Rakitić, Ivan Perišić and goalkeeper Danijel Subašić's shoot-out saves mattered as much, and Croatia went on to finish third again in 2022.
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Salem Al-Dawsari
Saudi Arabia's 2-1 win over Argentina at the 2022 World Cup is one of the biggest shocks in the tournament's history, and Al-Dawsari's curling winner made it. Hervé Renard's side held a brave high offside line that caught Argentina repeatedly. Saudi Arabia went out in the group, but that afternoon in Lusail was the only defeat Argentina suffered on their way to the trophy.
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Yassine Bounou
Born
Morocco became the first African and Arab nation to reach a World Cup semi-final in 2022, and Bounou conceded only one goal before it, an own goal. He saved two penalties as Spain went out in the shoot-out, then Portugal were beaten in the quarter-final. Achraf Hakimi, Sofyan Amrabat and coach Walid Regragui shaped the team, but Bounou made it nearly impossible to score against.
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Khadija Shaw
Born
Jamaica drew with France and Brazil at the 2023 Women's World Cup and reached the knockout stage for the first time, knocking Brazil out. Shaw, the Manchester City striker, was the focal point who forced defences back, even though a red card ruled her out of one match. Goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer's clean sheets and Allyson Swaby's defending were just as central, all after the players had publicly criticised their federation's support.
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Thembi Kgatlana
Born
Kgatlana scored South Africa's first Women's World Cup goal in 2019, a long-range strike against Spain, and four years later scored the late winner against Italy that sent them into the knockout stage for the first time. Her speed in behind was Banyana Banyana's main weapon. Hilda Magaia and captain Refiloe Jane completed a side that had won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations the year before.
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Linda Caicedo
Born
Aged 18, Caicedo scored a dazzling solo goal against Germany at the 2023 Women's World Cup as Colombia beat the two-time champions and went on to their first quarter-final. She had already survived ovarian cancer as a teenager. Manuela Vanegas's late header won that Germany match and Catalina Usme led the line with her, but Caicedo was the player the tournament talked about.
More about Linda Caicedo22
Vozinha
Born
Cape Verde, the smallest nation at the 2026 World Cup, reached the knockout stage at their first attempt without winning a game: goalless draws with Spain and Saudi Arabia and a 2-2 with Uruguay. Their 40-year-old goalkeeper and captain Vozinha was the reason those draws held. Argentina ended the run in the round of 32, but a squad drawn largely from the diaspora had already made history.
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