Top 5 World Cup playing nations 101st ranked India have leapfrogged

Modified Apr 06, 2017 19:38 IST

Ranking as low as 101st is fairly irrelevant as far as making it to the World Cup is concerned

#3 North Korea

NELSPRUIT, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 25: Emmanuel Eboue of the Ivory Coast clears the ball under pressure from Ri Kwang-Chon of North Korea (R) during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group G match between North Korea and Ivory Coast at the Mbombela Stadium on June 25, 2010 in Nelspruit, South Africa. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) — Like New Zealand, they have played in two World Cup finals, the latest being in 2010

North Korea are ranked 115^th in the latest rankings, 14 places below India. Like New Zealand, they have played in two World Cup finals, the latest being in 2010.

They finished bottom of their group in the 2010 World Cup, behind Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast. However, their biggest success on the world stage came in the 1966 World Cup where they pulled off one of football’s biggest upsets.

They caused an upset by beating Italy in the group stage 1-0 and in the process, eliminated the Azzurri from the tournament. In their quarter-final clash against Eusebio’s Portugal, the North Koreans raced to a 3–0 lead in 25 minutes only to see the Black Panther score four times as the Portuguese came back to win 5–3.

Edited by Staff Editor