\n<\/p>\n
The 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which featured eight new teams, threw up plenty of surprises.<\/p>\n
It was a successful tournament for African nations, with underdogs Morocco, South Africa and Nigeria – ranked 72, 54 and 40 in the world respectively – reaching the last 16.<\/p>\n
Morocco’s progression came at the expense of two-time champions Germany, who went out at the group stages a year after reaching the Euro 2022 final.<\/p>\n
Zambia, ranked 81st, were the lowest-ranked team to qualify.<\/p>\n
While they suffered 5-0 losses to Japan and Spain, they finished third in their group thanks to a 3-1 win over Costa Rica, who were ranked 44 places higher.<\/p>\n
Nigeria, 40th in the rankings, lost to eventual runners-up England in a penalty shootout in the last 16.<\/p>\n
Of the 32 teams, only three failed to earn a single point – Costa Rica, Haiti and Vietnam – and only Vietnam failed to score.<\/p>\n
There were some one-sided scorelines, though, including the Netherlands firing seven past Vietnam and Norway thrashing the Philippines 6-0.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n