Lower ranked teams are changing the tone
The expanded 48 team World Cup has already produced several unexpected results, with smaller nations showing that organization, discipline and smart tactical planning can narrow the gap against stronger opponents.
Cape Verde, Curacao, Ghana and South Africa, ranked 64th, 81st, 65th and 54th respectively, have all taken points from higher profile teams. Their results have come against Spain, ranked 3rd, Ecuador, ranked 29th, England, ranked 4th, and South Korea, ranked 28th.
Those outcomes may look surprising on the surface, but the matches reveal repeated patterns in how underdogs are competing more effectively.
Compact blocks deny space between the lines
Cape Verde’s 0-0 draw with Spain stands out as one of the tournament’s biggest shocks and also one of its clearest tactical examples.
The third-smallest nation in World Cup history frustrated Spain with a disciplined 4-5-1 defensive structure. The most important detail was the short distance between the midfield line and the back four, which left very little space for Spain to receive passes inside the block.
Spain repeatedly moved the ball backwards, hoping Cape Verde’s midfielders would step forward and open gaps behind them. Cape Verde refused to follow that invitation and instead kept its shape narrow and compact.
Spain forced wide or over the top
When Spain’s defenders carried the ball forward to provoke a reaction, Cape Verde again delayed its pressure and stayed organized until the last possible moment.
That patience denied Spain the central spaces it usually uses to control matches. As a result, Spain had to look around Cape Verde’s structure or attempt passes over it, rather than playing through it.
The same idea appeared in Ghana’s approach against England. Ghana also defended in a compact block and limited the central areas England wanted to attack.
Ghana resists England’s pressing trap
England under Thomas Tuchel have placed strong emphasis on dropping deep to draw opponents forward before attacking the space that opens behind them.
Ghana prepared for that pattern by refusing to be pulled out of position. Jordan Ayew stayed higher to man mark Elliot Anderson, but the rest of the team formed two compact lines just outside the penalty area.
The result was similar to Cape Verde’s defensive plan. Ghana gave up territory, but not the space between midfield and defence that England wanted to exploit.
PPDA shows deliberate passivity
The passive nature of those performances is reflected in PPDA, which measures opposition passes allowed per defensive action. A higher number indicates less pressing and fewer interruptions of the opponent’s possession.
Against Spain, Cape Verde recorded an average PPDA of 51.2, compared with Spain’s 5.9.
In the opening 15 minutes against England, Ghana’s PPDA reached 62. Both teams were not passive by accident. They deliberately chose not to press early, preserving their shape instead.
Both Cape Verde and Ghana increased their pressing later in the game, partly because underdogs sometimes accept more risk near the end when they sense a chance to win.
Width has punished weaker defensive plans
Other underdogs have struggled when their defensive blocks failed to cover the full width of the pitch.
Saudi Arabia’s defeat against Spain illustrated this problem clearly. Although a five defender system can look safer, it created confusion when players were too easily drawn toward the ball.
Saudi Arabia’s midfield four shifted too far toward the ball side, leaving the opposite side exposed. Spain recognized the imbalance and repeatedly switched play from left to right.
Spain exploits Saudi Arabia’s wide gaps
Lamine Yamal and Pedro Porro repeatedly created two against one situations against the Saudi wing-back. That overload directly contributed to Spain’s third goal.
The wide midfielder had been pulled too close to the ball and could not recover quickly enough to pressure Porro after the switch. The wing-back also hesitated to step out because doing so would have left Yamal free.
With time to deliver, Porro crossed to the back post. The ball was then redirected centrally for Mikel Oyarzabal to finish from close range.
Sweden suffers from the same weakness
Sweden, ranked 36th, had similar problems in its 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands, ranked 8th.
Their 5-3-2 shape gave them only three midfielders to protect the width of the pitch, which made the problem even more pronounced than Saudi Arabia’s four man midfield.
The Netherlands used their right winger to keep Sweden’s left wing-back deep. As Sweden’s midfield three shifted toward the ball, Denzel Dumfries made forward runs from deeper areas that were not tracked.
Sweden improved only after switching to a 4-5-1, the same basic shape used effectively by Cape Verde and Ghana.
Short build-up can create attacking routes
Defending well is only part of the formula. Smaller teams also need ways to move the ball up the pitch with purpose.
South Africa showed that clearly against South Korea. Despite having only 31% possession, South Africa produced 14 shots compared with South Korea’s seven.
The key was not simply launching long balls from the goalkeeper. Instead, South Africa used short goal kicks to draw pressure before playing more precise balls into space further forward.
Goal kicks become a calculated risk
Cape Verde, Iraq and South Africa have all used short goal kicks with players positioned far apart from each other.
This spacing forces teams that press man to man to cover large distances. While opponents are running to close players down, defenders can look for midfielders or attackers in space.
The approach is risky because losing the ball near goal can be costly. South Africa conceded against Mexico from such a situation, and Iraq also paid for it against Norway.
Even so, the strategy created chances. With sharper final actions, some of those attacking moves could have changed the outcome of matches.
South Africa sticks to its plan
Against South Korea, South Africa continued to play forward with intention when pressed high.
Once they moved the ball into advanced areas, they attacked quickly and created enough danger to score the goal that carried them into the next stage of the competition.
The performance showed that underdogs do not always need long spells of possession. They need a repeatable method for turning limited possession into useful territory and chances.
Goalkeepers and individual quality still matter
Tactical planning can close part of the gap, but smaller teams still need outstanding individual moments.
Cape Verde’s 40 year old goalkeeper Vozinha became one of the stories of the tournament with a superb shot stopping display against Spain.
Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room also played a decisive role, matching the World Cup record with 15 saves in a single game to help his country earn its first point.
A more tactically balanced World Cup
The early surprises show how much tactical knowledge has spread across international football, regardless of ranking.
Teams with less individual talent can still make elite opponents uncomfortable when they defend compactly, protect the width of the pitch and create structured attacking outlets.
They still need discipline, efficiency and moments of exceptional quality. But this World Cup is already showing that smart planning can give smaller nations a much stronger platform to compete on their own terms.
