Athough it has not officially ended yet, there is no doubt that the great surprise of the Qatar 2022 World Cup has been the participation of the Morocco national team, which became the first African team to reach the semifinals of a World Cup. The Lions of the Atlas could not pull off the upset against France to make it to the final, but they still have an extra match to continue making history.
The team led by Walid Regragui will compete against Croatia for the third place in the tournament, a position that only one non-Conmebol or UEFA affiliated national team has occupied before. The task will not be easy, as they will face a Balkan team that has a podium finish (1998) and a runner-up position (2018) in its history.
Before Morocco, a handful of teams had already achieved the feat of finishing among the top three in the world, despite not being considered favorites or having a significant football tradition, in some cases.
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United States (1930)
Although the North American team is far from being a football powerhouse, it is true that in the first edition of the World Cup it was one of the teams that went the furthest. In Uruguay 1930, the team reached the semifinals, but they were defeated 6-1 by Argentina.
Since there was no extra match to define the third place in that edition, the better performance of the United States compared to Yugoslavia was taken into account to assign them that position. To this date, it is the only representative of Concacaf that has been able to reach the top four in a World Cup.
The United States was the first team to achieve a third place in a World Cup. Photo: USMNT
Austria (1954)
The modest team from Central Europe is not one of the strongest in UEFA, but it offered decent performances in the early years of the tournament. First in Italy 1934, when they reached the fourth place, and later in Switzerland 1954, when they beat the reigning champion Uruguay 3-1 to secure the third place.
Austria had its best performance in a World Cup in Switzerland 1954. Photo: FIFA
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Chile (1962)
In addition to Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, no other South American team has been able to win the World Cup. The closest one to accomplishing that was Chile, which became the sensation of the tournament held in its territory in 1962.
In that edition, the Chilean team eliminated rivals such as Italy and the Soviet Union. Brazil foiled their plans of reaching the final, but they finished their participation in a respectable way with a 1-0 victory against Yugoslavia to secure the podium.
Chile is the only country in South America outside of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay to reach the semifinals of a World Cup. Photo: memoriachilena.cl
Turkey (2002)
One of the biggest surprises in World Cup history was the third place achieved by the Eurasian country in Korea-Japan 2002. Usually seen as a secondary team in UEFA, the Turks were the sensation of that tournament as they made their way to the semifinals with authority.
The future champion Brazil would be too much for the courageous Turkish team, but it was not the case against the host country South Korea, whom they defeated 3-2 to secure their best international performance in a FIFA tournament.
Turkey has only played two World Cups in its history. Photo: FIFA