No wins, no losses, just upsets: Underdogs rewrite World Cup script with surprise draws

A series of unexpected draws has emerged as one of the biggest stories of the FIFA World Cup, with several lower-ranked teams holding heavily favored opponents in their opening group-stage matches. The most notable result came when world No. 67 Cape Verde held world No. 2 Spain to a 0-0 draw in Cape Verde’s first-ever World Cup match. The result is widely regarded as the tournament’s biggest surprise so far and highlighted the increasingly competitive nature of the expanded competition.

Monday witnessed four draws, marking the highest number of tied matches on a single day of men’s World Cup action since 1958. Alongside Cape Verde’s draw against Spain, world No. 85 New Zealand drew 2-2 with world No. 20 Iran. World No. 61 Saudi Arabia secured a 1-1 draw against world No. 16 Uruguay, while world No. 29 Egypt shared points with world No. 9 Belgium after a 1-1 result.

The draw between Cape Verde and Spain attracted particular attention because of the significant gap in rankings and expectations between the two teams. Spain entered the tournament as one of the leading title contenders, while Cape Verde was making its World Cup debut. Cape Verde coach Pedro Leitão Brito, known as Bubista, described the result as highly significant for his team. Saudi Arabia coach Georgios Donis also referred to the Spain-Cape Verde result as potentially the biggest surprise of the tournament.

The trend of lower-ranked teams securing unexpected draws began before Monday. Earlier in the tournament, world No. 56 Qatar held world No. 19 Switzerland to a 1-1 draw. World No. 64 Bosnia and Herzegovina also earned a 1-1 draw against world No. 30 Canada. Other tied matches included a 2-2 draw between Japan and Netherlands, as well as a 1-1 draw between Brazil and Morocco.

The results have left Groups F and H evenly balanced after the opening round of matches. New Zealand, Iran, Belgium and Egypt each have one point in Group F, while Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Cape Verde are also level on one point in Group H. Under the tournament format, teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw, with the top two teams in each group and the best-performing third-placed teams advancing to the knockout stage. Through the first 16 matches of the tournament, eight have ended in draws, underlining the competitive balance on display.