FIFA's own website posed the question: "Is this the greatest upset ever in a FIFA competition?" It left the answer open, but the result ranks alongside North Korea's 1-0 win over Italy in the 1966 World Cup finals, Cameroon's 1-0 win over defending world champions Argentina in the opening match of the 1990 World Cup and Senegal's 1-0 victory over defending world champions France in the 2002 World Cup finals. Two successive World Cup finals also produced huge shocks. In 1950 Brazil was odds-on favorites to beat Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro to become world champion for the first time but lost, 2-1. Four years later Hungary's "Magic Magyars," who had not lost for more than four years, met West Germany in the final, a few weeks after beating it 8-3 in the group stage. Hungary, one of the greatest teams ever assembled in world soccer, led 2-0 early in the game but ended up being beaten 3-2.
This is not the first time Spain has been the victims of a major upset. It lost 3-2 to Nigeria in the 1998 World Cup in Nantes after Nigeria scored two late goals. The USA upset surpasses that one in magnitude, however, as Spain is currently No. 1 in FIFA's world rankings, had been unbeaten for nearly three years and 35 matches and had won 15 games in a row. The USA, meanwhile, wants to prove that the upset wasn't exactly a fluke. "It might not be the last upset here either," Howard said. "If we can beat the world-ranked No. 1 side, what can we do against Brazil or South Africa?"
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