What is your nations worst defeat?

Demyanenko_square_jaw

Full Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2017
Messages
1,048
From a performance perspective in a competitive game.... 7-1 loss against Portugal in the early 2006 World Cup Qualifiers and the 3-0 Wales loss at Euro 2016.

The first could have been avoided as there was still a good amount of talent around then, but the atmosphere around the NT in the early-mid 00s was really negative and the management often rubbish. So an inconsistent team with some poor tactics and line up choices ran into an in-form strong Portugal one and got destroyed. Portugal scored several great goals from outside the box in this game, including a Ronaldo classic. Arshavin consolation was also nice.



The Wales loss was one you could see coming. A generation that hardly produced any talent and had been playing bad football for years with an ancient defence, while having had some very mediocre efforts in qualifying against Austria, a weak Sweden and others. This set up the narrative of going into home world cup with what a lot thought would be our worst ever team and friendly losses not long after it against sides like Costa Rica and Qatar only added to that.
 

Zlatattack

New Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2017
Messages
7,374
Pakistan have had many terrible defeats at cricket. They've got a special skillsets of embarrassing the nation after looking like world beaters.

The WC defeat in the 99 final hurts the most, as I think that was an incredible team and it was the first time the Pakistani cricket team stomped on my heart.

The performance in the world Cup where Bob Woolmer died (May he rest in peace) was also especially inept.
 

Gonçalo Motta

Full Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2013
Messages
626
Location
Porto, Portugal
Gotta say losing losing 1-0 against Greece at home in the euro 2004 final. Funny enough we won the euros in a similar fashion 12y later.

Honorable mention to France - Portugal in the Euro 2000 where we lost because of a penalty that was considered somewhat controversial. It was a clear penalty though but I never forgot that heartbreaking defeat
 
Last edited:

Peyroteo

Professional Ronaldo PR Guy
Joined
Jan 11, 2016
Messages
10,884
Location
Porto, Portugal
Supports
Sporting CP
From a performance perspective in a competitive game.... 7-1 loss against Portugal in the early 2006 World Cup Qualifiers and the 3-0 Wales loss at Euro 2016.

The first could have been avoided as there was still a good amount of talent around then, but the atmosphere around the NT in the early-mid 00s was really negative and the management often rubbish. So an inconsistent team with some poor tactics and line up choices ran into an in-form strong Portugal one and got destroyed. Portugal scored several great goals from outside the box in this game, including a Ronaldo classic. Arshavin consolation was also nice.

I was at the stadium for this one :drool:

There were like 5 or 6 goals that were worth the price of the ticket by themselves :lol:
 

FootballHQ

Full Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
18,139
Supports
Aston Villa
Most painful was losing to Greece in the 2004 Euros final. WC semi vs France in 2006, Euros semi vs Spain in 2012 and Euros semi vs France in 2000 all come close though.

Most embarassing was going out in the 2002 WC group stage to Korea after finishing the game with 9 men when that was probably the best squad we’ve ever taken to a World Cup
Didn't you draw 2-2 against Liechtenstein in qualifiers one time? I'm pretty sure it was under Scolari.

Edit: Yeah October 2004 when they were a real minnow. Since then they give the bigger nations some good games home and away, rarely get pumped.

Can remember a nearly one last year. Turkey were about to draw 0-0 at home to Andorra and then think Calhanoglu hit a free kick last minute in from 30 yards to win it.
 

ForEverEleven

Full Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2018
Messages
329
Supports
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
0:2 against Italy in the WC 2006 definetely hurt the most. Until this point, the atmosphere in the country was just incredible, especially for a kid the greatest thing ever. I have never felt so deflated after a loss since, horrible.
 

Hound Dog

Full Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
3,192
Location
Belgrade, Serbia
Supports
Whoever I bet on
Gotta say losing losing 1-0 against Greece at home in the euro 2004 final. Funny enough we won the euros in a similar fashion 12y later.

Honorable mention to France - Portugal in the Euro 2000 where we lost because of a penalty that was considered somewhat controversial. It was a clear penalty though but I never forgot that heartbreaking defeat
Controversial how it was as clear as they come.

For us, Australia WC 2010. They were already out and we previously beat Germany. Needed only a point to reach the KO stage where we would have had the easiest pre semi final fixtures one can realistically hope for.

Were by far the better side and lost 2 1
 

Pat_Mustard

I'm so gorgeous they want to put me under arrest!
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
13,785
Location
A never-nude? I thought he just liked cut-offs.
First one that comes to mind for me is Republic of Ireland 1-5 Denmark

Eriksen ruined us
Tbh that match didn't bother me as we were just undone by a far better side with Eriksen being head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch. It's matches like the draw against Georgia that stick in my mind as a nadir, where we could barely string two passes together against opponents that it shouldn't have been beyond us to outplay.
 

Reiver

Full Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2016
Messages
2,519
Location
Near Glasgow
According to some stats company Gracenote these are Scotland's worst ever



Mostly bollocks though. Poland were building their great 70s team in '65, Peru were class through most of the 70s, Belgium reached the Euro 80 final a year later, Ireland had an excellent Euro 88 a year alter.

I'll go for Wales pumping us 4-0 in 2004 with a fairly average side.
That Wales game is a good call. The Faroes debacle isn't on there, but then it wasn't a defeat, at least going by the scoreline. The Kazakhstan defeat, followed by the apparent mental unwinding of McLeish will stick long in the memory.
That list could easily be expanded to the top 20.
 

Pat_Mustard

I'm so gorgeous they want to put me under arrest!
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
13,785
Location
A never-nude? I thought he just liked cut-offs.
Mostly bollocks though. Poland were building their great 70s team in '65, Peru were class through most of the 70s, Belgium reached the Euro 80 final a year later, Ireland had an excellent Euro 88 a year alter.

I'll go for Wales pumping us 4-0 in 2004 with a fairly average side.
Scotland



Republic of Ireland


What would both of us give for some players of that calibre nowadays.
 

Gringo

Full Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2019
Messages
3,396
Supports
Portugal
I share the sentiments of Greece for Portugal but USA 2002 in Korea while not the same level of heartbreak, probably more embarrassing. They had some good players, but that was Golden Generation Portugal. Should never have lost.
 

njred

HALA MADRID!
Joined
Nov 3, 2001
Messages
7,172
Supports
Liverpool
Holland 2 England 0 WCQ 1993. Koeman’s crap free kick that beat Seaman is etched in my mind. England was coming to the states in 94 if they drew that match if I recall.
 

Gio

★★★★★★★★
Joined
Jan 25, 2001
Messages
20,300
Location
Bonnie Scotland
Supports
Rangers
That Wales game is a good call. The Faroes debacle isn't on there, but then it wasn't a defeat, at least going by the scoreline. The Kazakhstan defeat, followed by the apparent mental unwinding of McLeish will stick long in the memory.
That list could easily be expanded to the top 20.
The Faroes game was the first performance that came to mind. Lambert's equaliser took about 10 jammy deflections to grab a point we barely deserved.
 

Bangalla

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jan 6, 2019
Messages
53
2-3 vs Portugal and a Ronaldo hattrick. Missed the world cup due to that in 2014.
Can't remember being smashed in a big game as long as I have followed Sweden.
Have a few other annoying defeats like vs Russia in the Euro 2008 and Ukraine in Euro 2012.
Other legendary Swedish losses are the triple 1-2 dance against Brazil, Scotland and Costa Rica in WC 1990 Italy and the total bore and snore fest that was EC 2000 Belgium/ Holland vs. Belgium, Turkey and Italy, I don't even remember the scores!
 

Mb194dc

Full Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2015
Messages
4,595
Supports
Chelsea
Must be the worst for Italy...

Obviously England have some pedigree in this department, Iceland..., Croatia at Wembley when failed qualify at Euros. Losing to France after being 1 0 up at 89 minutes, losing to Portugal after being 2 0 up, Romania loss when P Neville gave pen away. All the penalty shootout defeats. Losing to Italy after being 1 0 up at home in Euros final...

That's just off the top of my head. Been some serious pain over my 30 years as an England fan...
 

Siorac

Full Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Messages
23,789
Yeah I can't imagine anything tops this for Italy.

As for my own nation: there are many that were turning points one way or another.

- Losing the 1954 World Cup final despite being heavy favourites and going 2-0 up in eight minutes.

- Being annihilated 4-1 by Czechoslovakia in Marseille in a World Cup qualifier playoff in 1969 and missing out on the World Cup for the first time since 1950.

- The 6-0 defeat to the Soviet Union in the opening group game of World Cup 1986 after topping a qualifier group containing the Netherlands with Gullit, Rijkaard, Van Basten et al.

- Losing 12-1 on aggregate to Yugoslavia in the World Cup qualifier playoffs in 1997.

- Losing to effing Andorra of all teams in an actual World Cup qualifier in 2017.

You can notice the pattern, how the defeats are going from painful to just plain embarrassing, with the stakes getting lower and lower, from a World Cup final to a random qualifier.
 

Wolf1992

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Apr 27, 2021
Messages
1,332
Supports
No team in particular.
In terms of gulf between teams, it must be right up there. However, the Baggio miss in the final in 1994 must be pretty bad too.
Massaro missed the crucial penalty, not Baggio.

He left Italy in disadvantage 3-2, putting pressure on Baggio to score and made it 3-3.

I don't know why people focus on Baggio, that was all on Massaro.
 

Sky1981

Fending off the urge
Joined
Apr 12, 2006
Messages
30,003
Location
Under the bright neon lights of sincity
Depends on how you define worst defeat. Obviously the Iceland one for the quality of the opposition. But for the importance of match and how it went during the game, I’d say the semi vs Germany in 96. The fact that it was a home tournament made it even more disappointing.
I still remember that one. Rooting for england before since my mum and dad goes to london to get their degree. Even wore the england jersey.

But throughout the game got sick of the commentator and ended up rooting for ze german. Likeable bunch they were.

And i still remember was it gascoigne who put a german helm and mocking the german? Oh and its comming home...

Never looked back
 

Asger

Full Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Messages
3,709
Sadly its 14-2 vs Denmark.

Denmark 14-2 Iceland, in Copenhagen. 23 Agust 1967
 

Wolf1992

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Apr 27, 2021
Messages
1,332
Supports
No team in particular.
He spannered it over the bar. Always looks the worst.
Still, Massaro fecked up everything, let Italy in disadvantage, even if Baggio scored Italy could have still lost cause that was only the equalizer.

Plus Massaro missed a sitter in playing time.
 

Redfrog

Full Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2020
Messages
2,810
France1-Italy 1. World cup final. We were very unlucky even when playing 10 against 11.
 

steve zizou

It's bigger than that, honest!
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Messages
1,364
Location
Back 4
Take your pick with Ghana. Over a decade of heartbreak :rolleyes:

2008 Afcon - Lost SF (as hosts)
2010 Afcon - Lost Final (late goal)
2010 WC - Suarez Handball. Say no more!!
2012 Afcon - Lost SF
2013 Afcon - Lost SF (on Penalties)
2014 - WC - Need to beat Portugal to qualify from Group Stages??. Just watch this shit show!!
2015 Afcon - Lost Final (on Penalties)
2017 Afcon - Lost SF
2018 - WCQ - Draw with Uganda home and away to miss the WC
2019 Afcon - Lost QF (on Penalties)
2022 Afcon - Need to beat Comoros to qualify out of the group... Lose to Comoros

We playing Nigeria tonight in the World Cup playoffs so I may be updating this list.
 

RobinLFC

Cries when Liverpool doesn't get praised
Joined
May 20, 2014
Messages
20,808
Location
Belgium
Supports
Liverpool
France 2018 or Wales 2016 here. Brasil 2002 stung as well because of the perfectly good goal being disallowed but at least we were quite crap back then.
 

FootballHQ

Full Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
18,139
Supports
Aston Villa
Didn't Italy draw 1-1 with New Zealand in the world cup in 2010?

England has to be Iceland in 2016, that was the rock bottom moment when you look at the last 5 years.
 

SilentWitness

ShoelessWitness
Staff
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
30,145
Supports
Everton
Didn't Italy draw 1-1 with New Zealand in the world cup in 2010?

England has to be Iceland in 2016, that was the rock bottom moment when you look at the last 5 years.
Arguably it's a mix of the worst and the best.
 

R'hllor

Full Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Messages
15,414
There are plenty defeats that are really really bad in history of Serbian national team but their worst for me is their win vs Germany 1:0, Germany had a player sent off and they looked out there like they have 13 players and Serbia 8, even at the end scoreboard showed 1:0 to Serbia, i felt like we lost 20:2.
 

led_scholes

Full Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
2,418
Greece vs Faroe Islands in 2014. It isn't just because it's Faroe Islands (no offense), it's also due to the defeat coming 4 months after almost reaching the quarter finals in the WC in Brazil (lost on penalties vs Costa Rica), and that the manager was Ranieri, who was fired as deemed not good enough and after 16 months was the Champion of England.
 

hellhunter

Eurofighter
Joined
Aug 5, 2011
Messages
17,994
Location
Stuttgart, Germany
Supports
Karlsruher SC
There are plenty defeats that are really really bad in history of Serbian national team but their worst for me is their win vs Germany 1:0, Germany had a player sent off and they looked out there like they have 13 players and Serbia 8, even at the end scoreboard showed 1:0 to Serbia, i felt like we lost 20:2.
Was that the game with the Vidic handball in Superman style?
 

kthanksbye

Full Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2014
Messages
1,503
Who are the resident Italian's on the Caf? Is yesterday the new number one?
Yes, even without Chiesa on the right and Spinazzola on the left, that team should've had enough to win yesterday, it's disappoint more than worse because we kept creating chances but the final ball and finish was severely lacking.
 

Charrockero

Full Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2021
Messages
278
Supports
Chivas de Guadalajara
USA 2 Mexico 0 in WC 2002.

Mexico had probably performed the best group stage of its history beating Croatia and Ecuador and almost Italy. For the knockout brackets we had a good expectation of having to play USA and not a freaking Top National Squad. A lot of optimism shrouded that team.

Sadly for us, USA managed to overturn the tables against Mexico by the end of the 90s and early 2000s. That match has been like a script of how USA always plays against Mexico and we still haven’t learnt the lesson. Pure counterattacks.

I was 13 in 2002, now I’m 32. Idgaf about the 2002 loss as I don’t rate International Football that much. But press and people really get mad when remembering that match and try to make it as woeful as they can. In my opinion it isn’t and shouldn’t be. USA is our rival but even with all their MLS/USMNT worshipping bs and Mexico “being the crappiest of the crappiest” we have achieved to win a gold medal in 2012 and beat them in CONCACAF Club level competitions.

Sooner or later they’ll win it at Club level, but it amazes me how the Mexican press is tolerant to US failures (like WC 2018 qualies) and has double standards as to the level of MLS compared to all the bs they surround towards anything that is related to Mexican football. That’s one of the reason I don’t watch news at all.
 

R'hllor

Full Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Messages
15,414
Was that the game with the Vidic handball in Superman style?
Dunno, dont remember, not sure he even played, only player i remember is the penalty scorer, him jumping into some deep ditch like a moron.
 

micmac

Full Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2012
Messages
172
Location
Trinidad
England 2 - 0 Trinidad WC 2006

England had to resort to cheating to upset the mighty Trinidad and Tobago