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Will Ghana provide the traditional World Cup Quarter Final upset?

| 02.07.2010

If the last four World Cup tournaments are anything to go by, then you would be wise to expect an upset in the quarter finals.

Last time around, in 2006, Brazil had cruised through the group stages, whilst France had rather stuttered their way through – qualifying behind the Swiss.

And yet, the French found their form at the right time, and beat Brazil in the quarter finals.

In 2002, South Korea’s surprising run saw them put one over on the Spanish in the quarters.

In 1998, Germany came a cropper against Croatia at this stage, as they did in 1994, when Bulgaria proved to be one of the surprises of the tournament.

Probably the most famous upset of the lot came at a similar stage in 1982, when a magnificent Brazil side lost against the Italians, in a match still known as the “Sarrias Disaster” – named after the stadium where it all took place.

So, while on paper, the favourites are Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Spain, recent  history suggests that one of those four will not be lining up for the semi-finals.

Of the four matches, only Uruguay and Ghana are yet to have played one another, so it could prove to be the most likely point of potential upset, with Ghana at odds of 16/2 to win. 

After ninety minutes, Holland have drawn four and won two of their nine matches against Brazil. Their odds of pulling a surprise out of the bag are 7/2.

Germany have won five, and drawn five of their eighteen against Argentina, and are now at odds of 12/5 to snatch win number six.

Whilst Paraguay and Spain have met three times, with two of them ending in a draw. Paraguay are considered to be the massive outsiders here, with odds of 7/1.

Nothing should be taken for granted.

Can one of the less fancied sides make it to the next round? See the full World Cup quarter finals market.

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Author

Ed Needham