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The FIFA World Cup has seen many surprise packages over the years from South Korea reaching the semi-finals on home soil to Senegal defeating the defending champions France at the opening game of the 2002 World Cup. They become seen as underdog stories when a little team advances deep into stages of a tournament they have never stepped into before.
Not just at the finals of a World Cup do we see dramatic moments fans will remember for years to come; it has also been seen in the qualification stages.We are learning irregular participants like Saudi Arabia and Burkina Faso are in pole position to catch a flight to Russia next summer.
We're also seeing shocks of big teams struggling in their groups and running out of games to turn it all around. Teams such as Argentina, The Netherlands, Chile and USA may currently not be playing in Russia which could mean no second chance for Lionel Messi to get his hands on the World Cup.
Which nations have grabbed the headlines by performing the impossible?
1) Syria
On Tuesday night, Syria qualified for a historic play-off spot to determine whether their destiny will take them all the way to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The Qasioun Eagles drew 2-2 with Iran to keep their first ever World Cup appearance hopes alive after a last minute equaliser from Omar Al Somah. Syria will now face Australia in a play-off in October before another two legged match against a Concacaf side the following month, should they beat the Aussies.
With everything going on back in Syria, it is truly seen as one of the most miraculous stories for a nation and for the world to embrace. Australia's history of qualifying to World Cup finals is very consistent and will be placed as favourites ahead of their meeting with Syria but up against a side with the motivation of nothing to lose, you just never know what the potential to this Syrian side can be.
Whether Syria make it to the World Cup finals or not it sure has been a memorable and cheerful journey for the footballing world to witness.
2) Angola
In 2005, Angola qualified for the 2006 World Cup marking their first ever appearance at a World Cup.
The African country made the qualifying stages look so easy as they lost only one match out of the ten. Zimbabwe away from home was the only team to beat Angola prior to the World Cup in Germany.
Angola finished top of the group beating favourites Nigeria to the top spot in which they finished second with 21 points, the same amount as Angola.
Angola were drawn into the same group as Portugal, Mexico and Iran at the World Cup finals. As expected, they did not go on further into the competition but they sure put up a good fight in their three group matches.
In their opening game, they lost 1-0 to Portugal from a fourth minute goal by striker Pauleta. But five days later Angola sealed a stunning goalless draw against Mexico claiming their first World Cup point in the national team's history and also giving them a little bit of hope of reaching the knockout stages.
In the final round of the group stages, Angola went up against Iran. Two sides with equal quality and a difficult fixture to predict.
Flavio opened the scoring for Angola heading in a delivery on the hour mark but the possibility of advancing to the last 16 was denied by Iran's equaliser from Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh's headed goal 15 minutes from time.
Four years on from their World Cup campaign in Germany, Angola hosted the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time going on to finish in the quarter-finals.
They have not since qualified to the World Cup.
3) Trinidad & Tobago
As well as Angola, it was also a first timer for Trinidad & Tobago at the 2006 World Cup. The seal of qualification resulted in Trinidad & Tobago being the smallest nation to compete at a World Cup finals stage, something that was previously held by Jamaica at the 1998 France World Cup.
The Soca Warriors finished fourth in their qualification group in October 2005 putting them in the play-off stages with Bahrain who finished one place behind them.
After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Dennis Lawrence scored the winning and only goal of the second leg in Manama with a header to clinch their first qualification to a World Cup finals tournament.
Their World Cup squad featured former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke, Ex-Stoke City forward Kenwyne Jones and goalkeeper Clayton Ince.
Trinidad & Tobago were mixed in with England, Sweden and Paraguay in group B. They finished last in the group table but with a precious point to take back home. Their opening and first ever World Cup match was a one to remember as they sealed a goal less draw with Sweden.
Head coach Leo Beenhakker's side were beaten in their remaining two games to England and Paraguay with the same scoreline at 2-0.
Just like Angola, Trinidad & Tobago have not progressed to any more World Cup experience.
4) North Korea
In a world where politics can represent a bad image towards a country, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa saw North Korea play on football's biggest stage. 2010 was not the nation's first appearance at a World Cup, in fact it was in 1966 when England hosted the tournament seeing North Korea reach the quarter-finals.
North Korea qualified by finishing runners-up to rivals South Korea and snatching the final automatic spot.
There was a lot of speculation of North Korea in the build-up and during the World Cup. Many users on social media platforms joked at players of the national team getting permission to play and many political jokes aimed at the country for having a football team at a major tournament.
The Asian team's first match was Brazil - where many expected a comfortable victory for the five time world champions.
The scoreline said otherwise. It took the Brazilians 55 minutes to break the deadlock after a tough angled shot from Maicon on the wing somehow found the target. Brazil went two ahead and looked to have finally sealed the win when Elano scored with 18 minutes remaining. Ji Yun-nam however got one back with a superb solo effort celebrating with high emotions to have scored against one of the finest footballing nations in the sport.
2-1 to Brazil was the final score but it seemed the team in yellow had underestimated their opponents that night in Johannesburg.
Sadly for North Korea, the rest of their group stage matches ended in defeats conceding 10 more goals, seven from Portugal and three from Ivory Coast.
5) Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is a very small part of the United Kingdom but maintain a big talent of players that form a tough team to beat.
Michael O'Neill's side tasted major tournament football at last year's European Championships in France. They finished third in the group stages but qualified into the last 16 for being one of the best third placed teams. Wales knocked Northern Ireland out in a home nations encounter in the knockout stages
Yet again however the scene is possible for a Northern Ireland team to appear at the next World Cup in Russia. The Green and White Army are currently sitting in second place behind Germany and can mathematically finish either second or first.
It would be the first time Northern Ireland has appeared at a World Cup since Mexico 1986 where they finished 21st in the group stages. Overall the nation has been entered in three World Cup finals but the possibility of making a fourth global tournament is high.
