FIFA World Cup: 5 Best Underdog Stories in History

#1 Croatia (1998)

Croatia's finest hour, in the quarterfinals.

The first half of the last decade of the previous millennium had seen war rip apart the Balkan states, with thousands dislocated and new nations formed. One such nation was Croatia, which declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1990. What followed was a bloody five year battle for independence before at last, in 1996, the Republic of Croatia became a sovereign member of the European Council.

For a country ravaged by war, qualifying for the World Cup itself would’ve felt like a victory. Indeed, Croatia managed to sneak into the tournament by edging out Greece by a solitary point in the qualifiers.

The fledgeling nation, however, had other things in mind - they were keen to prove to the world that they hadn’t arrived in France to just make up the numbers.

Their campaign started off with a comfortable 3-1 win against Jamaica, which was followed up by a 1-0 win over Japan. Croatia were playing with a swagger that nobody expected them to have – the elegance of Real Madrid’s Davor Suker and AC Milan’s Zvonimir Boban was complemented by the industry of Everton’s Slaven Bilic and Aljosa Asanovic in a frightening combination of silk and steel.

A defeat by a solitary goal at the hands of Argentina did little to dampen the mood in an upbeat Croatia camp. Croatia were up against an exciting Romania team – which included legendary forward Gheorghe Hagi - in the round of sixteen in Bordeaux.

In an exciting encounter, Davor Suker scored the only goal of the game, and Croatia found themselves in the quarterfinals of the World Cup – it was dreamland for the millions of Croatians who had been surrounded by the ghastly horrors of war until recently.

The East Europeans faced Germany, the defending European Champions, with the latter widely tipped to cut short the Croatian adventure. However, it was the Germans who were caught off guard, as the Croats blew them away 3-0 in Lyon. Suker and Boban ran rings around the Germans, who just had no answer.

Croatia were, improbably, in the semifinals, and were due to play France in Paris. Once again, they stunned the packed Stade De France when the irrepressible Suker scored the opening goal.

Within a minute, however, reality brought the high flying Croats back down to earth, as Lillian Thuram equalized for the French. Thuram once again scored to condemn the underdogs to a 2-1 defeat. France went on to win the World Cup.

As for Croatia, they called upon their golden generation one final time in the third-place playoff to outplay The Netherlands 2-1 to finish third.

For the Croats, this World Cup was more than a brilliant campaign. It was a war-torn country announcing itself to the world, in the most spectacular fashion.

Croatia may not have lifted the trophy or even played the final, but they had regained their identity as a nation. That was their victory.