7 most memorable World Cup playoff ties

#7 Ukraine vs. France, 2014 World Cup qualifiers

To see a side as good as France – featuring the likes of Franck Ribery and Paul Pogba – condemned to the play-offs in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers wasn’t as much of a shock as it could’ve been. Les Bleus were unfortunate enough to be drawn in a group alongside holders Spain, after all. What was a shock, however, was the result of the first leg of their play-off game against Ukraine, who had been a dour runner-up to England in their group.

The game was an excellent showing for Ukraine, who had gone unbeaten in ten games – a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Roman Zozulya and Andriy Yarmolenko. France were largely shut out, with Ribery and Samir Nasri being marked out of the game. The game ended in some controversy as both Laurent Koscielny and Olexandr Kucher were sent off in stoppage time – Koscielny for violent conduct – but it seemed like all the momentum was with Ukraine going into the second leg.

In a truly remarkable performance though, France showed their class and became the first European team to ever overturn a 2-0 deficit in the playoffs. The French were on the front foot from the off, dominating in both possession and shots on target, and took an early lead through Mamadou Sakho of all people before Karim Benzema added a second. Early in the second half things were made even trickier for Ukraine when Yevhen Khacheridi was sent off, and sure enough, Sakho popped up again in the 72nd minute to score the goal to send France to Brazil.

It was a memorable overhaul from France, who proved why they were one of the dark horses for the tournament, while for Ukraine the experience was painful, but not an unfamiliar one – it was the fourth World Cup playoff that they’d lost.