Top 5 of the biggest footballing upsets in 2017 

#3 Trinidad & Tobago end USA's World Cup dream

Pulisic in the depths of despair

The United States have been a regular fixture in the World Cup since 1990 and it was widely expected that they would easily qualify for next year's tournament in Russia as well. In the qualifying rounds, the team started off by losing to both Costa Rica and Mexico, which led to Jurgen Klinsmann's sacking. In the end, it all boiled down to the return leg against Trinidad & Tobago at home in October this year.

They had beaten the opponents 2-0 away from home earlier and hence, most believed that the USA would win the tie with ease. However, things went totally against the script. In the 17th minute, Oscar Gonzalez's own goal gave Trinidad & Tobago an unexpected lead and twenty minutes later, Alvin Jones put them up 2-0 with a thunderous strike.

The USA looked completely inept and incapable of penetrating the opponent's defence despite the high stakes and even though their star midfielder, Christian Pulisic, made it 1-2 early on in the 2nd half, the home team struggled to create much.

It was, without a doubt, one of the biggest upsets of the year and condemned the US for an unexpected ouster. They could still have qualified or made it to the playoffs if results elsewhere went their way, but upsets in two other games crushed their World Cup dreams. Mexico lost 3-2 to Honduras and then Costa Rica's 2-1 defeat at the hands of Panama put them completely out of contention.