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Spanish national football team reached its zenith at the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa. The reigning European Champions would dispatch heavyweights Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands to win their only World Cup to date and establish Tiki-taka as the most talked about football concept in the last 30 years.
But do you remember Spain's first match in that glorious campaign? It ended in a surprising 0-1 reverse at the hands of lowly Switzerland - a statistic that has been conveniently forgotten due to La Fury Roja's brilliant subsequent performances.
There are plenty more upsets that have flown under the radar in retrospect - Sweden's elimination of Argentina from the 1934 World Cup is a virtual unknown compared to Cameroon's group stage defeat of the Albiceleste in 1990.
Take a look at five more World Cup upsets that you might have forgotten:
5. Romania 2-1 England: 1998
The 1998 World Cup is pretty underrated when it comes to stunning World Cup upsets - Which is unfair considering the number of matches that saw favourites biting the dust.
While the best underdog performance in 1998 must surely be attributed to debutants Croatia - who beat Germany and the Netherlands to finish third - another dark horse was Romania. Placed in a group alongside perennially overhyped England and a strong Colombian side, second place seemed to be the best option for the Carpathians.
When Beckham and co took on the Romanians in the second round of matches in Group G, both teams had won their opening matches. The Three Lions seemed ready to ensure qualification to the knockout stages but quickly fell behind in Toulouse.
A teenage Michael Owen would seemingly get England back on track with his first ever World cup goal nine minutes from time, but Dan Petrescu would beat David Seaman in the final minute of normal time to give Romania a 2-1 victory.
Romania would win the group while consigning England to the runner-up spot - a scenario which would set up the latter's infamous clash with Argentina in the Round of 16.
Fun fact: Romania would beat England once again in the next major tournament (Euro 2000) with another 90th-minute goal which would see the Three Lions exit that tournament in the group stages.
4. Morocco 3-1 Portugal: 1986
Morocco has been one of the pioneers among African nations as far as World Cup records are concerned. They were the first African side since Egypt in 1934 to play in the tournament (1970) and made more history 16 years later when they became the first nation from the continent to make it out of the group stages - that too finishing top of the group.
What made the achievement even more special is that they were drawn in a group comprising of England, Portugal and Poland - all strong sides considered to be tactically way ahead of the Arab nation. However, the Moroccans shut out both England and Poland in their first two games and when Portugal came calling for the final group game, all four teams had realistic hopes of making the next round.
Portugal had already beaten England in the competition and despite a doping controversy and reports of a player strike, were still considered favourites to beat the Africans. But by halftime, the Europeans playing for the likes of Porto and Benfica were 2-0 down courtesy of a brace from FAR Rabat striker Abder Khairi.
Portugal's hope for a second-half comeback ended at the stroke of the hour as Krimau Merry was virtually unopposed by the Portugal defence while making the score 3-0 for the Moroccans. A late consolation was mustered by the Portuguese, but the contest never threatened to go the way of the famous 5-3 comeback against North Korea in 1966.
Portugal finished bottom of the group and were bundled out of the World cup, whereas Morocco topped the group ahead of England and Poland.
3. Norway 2-1 Brazil:1998
The Scandinavian country of Norway is currently ranked 53rd in the world and has not qualified for a major tournament for the past 18 years. During the 90s however, it was a different story.
The FIFA rankings were introduced in 1993 and for a while, Norway was ranked as the second-best team in the world. With a squad comprising of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer and Tore Andre Flo, the Norwegians had ended Brazil's 34-match winning streak with a 4-2 victory in Oslo in 1997 and a year later, found themselves facing the Brazilians once again in a do or die match in the World Cup.
With two matches of the group stages played, Norway had to beat already-qualified Brazil to join them in the Round of 16. The Brazil squad comprising of Ronaldo, Carlos, Bebeto and Rivaldo were overwhelming favourites for the tournament and took the lead through Bebeto in the 78th minute.
Needing two goals in ten minutes, Norway pressed forward and Brazilian defender Junior Baiano found it increasingly difficult to contain the mercurial Tore Andre Flo. In the 83rd minute, Flo sprinted past Baiano and beat Taffarel with a right foot strike.
Norway were still going out of the tournament when the clock reached the 88th minute, but Flo was causing more problems in the box and when he was brought down by Baiano, the referee gave a debatable penalty to the Norwegians.
Kjetil Rekdal stepped up to score from the spot and Norway held on to complete a 2-1 victory. The Scandinavians would finish the group stages unbeaten with 5 points - one behind Brazil - and set up a Round of 16 meeting with Italy.
2. Bulgaria 2-1 Germany: 1994
The German football team is the synonym for cold efficiency - Since 2005, never has it tasted defeat in a decisive match against a so-called underdog. However, the well-oiled German machine that we see today was the result of some magnificent work done by the German Football Federation who were alarmed by the rot it detected in the first team for a ten year period beginning in the mid-nineties.
During that period, Germany suffered embarrassing group stage exits at Euro 2000 and 2004 along with a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of underdogs Croatia in the 1998 World Cup. However, the Germans make this list for the match that started it all - the 2-1 elimination at the hands of the unfancied Bulgarians in the 1994 World Cup quarterfinals.
Germany had arrived at USA '94 as defending Champions and they seemed to be straining in each of their matches. En route to the quarters, Germany would never win a game other than by a one-goal margin. But the team comprising of Klinsmann, Voller and Matthaus was still considered good enough to eliminate Bulgaria to move into the semi-finals.
Bulgaria had started the tournament with a 0-3 hammering at the hands of Nigeria, but they had gone from strength to strength - boosted by an upset win over Mardaona-less Argentina. They still needed penalties to get past a dogged Mexico in the second round before setting up the Germany match.
When the match got underway, the Germans gained the ascendancy and Lother Matthaus put the World Champions ahead just minutes into the second half. But Bulgaria refused to give up and German resilience was broken twice in three minutes - first by tournament topscorer Hristo Stoichkov and then by Yordan Letchkov. The match would finish 2-1 to the Bulgarians and Germany would be sent packing,
Bulgaria would be beaten by Italy in the semifinals and then thrashed 4-0 by Sweden in the third-place playoff, but the Eastern Europeans had already made history by that point.
1. Poland 1-0 Brazil: 1974
Long before the emergence of Robert Lewandowski, Poland had a team capable of beating any nation in the world. The 1970s saw the plucky Eastern Europeans win an Olympic Gold medal at Munich '72 and a Silver medal at Montreal '76.
Sandwiched between the two tournaments came the 1974 World Cup where the Poles underlined their credentials once again. They had made an impact during qualification itself, eliminating England to secure a berth in the finals.
The 16 nation tournament saw the Poles being drawn in a tough group alongside Argentina and Italy. They announced their arrival by taking a 2-0 lead over the Argentines within eight minutes of their opening game, eventually winning 3-2. A 7-0 demolition of Haiti followed and the final game saw the Poles eliminate Italy from the tournament courtesy of a 2-1 win.
The strike partnership of Andrzej Szarmach (5) and Grzegorz Lato (4) had already scored 9 goals between them in the first round. Lato would step up in the second group stage phase as well, scoring decisive goals against Sweden and Yugoslavia, setting up a winner takes all encounter against the Germans for a place in the finals.
Despite all their attacking talent, the Poles would taste defeat at the hands of a solitary Gerd Muller strike. This would consign them to the third-place playoff against Brazil rather than the final against the Netherlands. The Brazilians had won three out of the past four World cups and were expected to soften the blow of their own exit by taking third place, but the Poles had history to make.
Lato would score his seventh of the tournament to beat the defending champions and Poland would celebrate the best finish in their World Cup history - made even sweeter by the fact that Lato would win the Golden Boot with his seven goals.
Eight years later, the ageing duo of Lato and Szarmach would have another crack at the World Cup, and they would repeat the performance of the 1974 team. Poland would win third place yet again, this time beating favourites France in the playoff.
