Fresh from Spain thrashing Costa Rica 7-0 at the 2022 World Cup, let’s look at the biggest FIFA World Cup wins over the years. Did Spain’s recent goal spree get them into the record books?
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Biggest World Cup Wins & Highest Scoring Games
Spain scored seven goals against Costa Rica in their opening 2022 Group E game (23rd Nov) to win 7-0 and in the process the World Cup betting sites reacted by shorten the 2010 winners in the outright betting.
But, how does that 7-0 thrashing compare with past World Cup games that have seen a stack of goals?
Top Six World Cup Winning Margins
- Hungary 10-1 El Salvador (World Cup 1982, Spain)
- Hungary 9-0 South Korea (World Cup 1954, Switzerland)
- Yugoslavia 9-0 Zaire: (World Cup 1974, Germany)
- Sweden 8-0 Cuba: (World Cup 1938, France)
- Uruguay 8-0 Bolivia: (World Cup 1950, Brazil)
- Germany 8-0 Saudi Arabia: (World Cup 2002, Japan/South Korea)
1982: Hungary vs El Salvador (10-1)
At World Cup 1982, Hungary rolled over El Salvador 10-1 and this score remains the highest winning margin of a World Cup game to date – a 9 goal difference!
Hungary’s Laszlo Kiss came on as a sub to score a second half hat-trick, which is also the only time a substitute has netted three goals in a match, but also the quickest three-timer in World Cup history with his scoring spree lasting just seven minutes.
This 10-goal haul actually overtook Hungary’s previous winning margin record when beating South Korea 9-0 in 1954 (see below).
Remarkably, despite that record win, Hungary didn’t make it out of the group stages after losing to Argentina and drawing with Belgium.
Italy were the 1982 World Cup winners that year.
1954: Hungary vs South Korea (9-0)
Hungary’s 9-0 mauling of South Korea at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland held the top spot in this category for 28 years until Hungary beat El Salvador in 1982 (above).
This win came in their opening group game, with Sandor Kocsis the star of the show – getting a hat-trick and after getting four in their other group game over West Germany Kocsis ended up bagging 11 goals over that tournament.
Hungary reached the final that year, but lost in a 3-2 thriller to West Germany, who they’d beaten 8-3 in the group stages – the game was tagged the ‘Miracle Of Bern’.
1974: Yugoslavia vs Zaire (9-0)
Yugoslavia faced the first-time World Cup qualifiers Zaire in their 1974 group, with the tournament being held in Germany.
With Brazil and Scotland also in the group and the main sides all drawing, the group rested on how many goals each of the three nations could beat Zaire by – a sort of goal difference shootout!
And it was Yugoslavia that won that shootout, by putting 9 goals by Zaire, which saw them top the group. They were 6-0 up at half-time, which is the most goals scored in the first period of a World Cup game.
West Germany went onto win the 1974 World Cup – beating the Netherlands 2-1.
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1938: Sweden v Cuba (8-0)
World Cup 1938 in France saw another drubbing match, this time it was Sweden who entered the hall-of-fame by beating Cuba 8-0.
Back then the event was a straight knock-out (no groups), with this game coming at the Quarter-finals stage so it still holds the record for the biggest World Cup win outside the group stages.
With two Sweden players scoring a hat-trick in the game too, this also remains the only World Cup fixture that this has happened in.
Italy won the 1938 World Cup, beating Hungary in the final 3-2.
1950: Uruguay v Bolivia (8-0)
1950 saw no official World Cup final match, with the winner decided on a round-robin contest with just four teams. It was Uruguay that went onto win the World Cup that year – beating Brazil 2-1 in the final at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
But before that, Uruguay put 8 goals by Bolivia, with Oscar Miguez netting a hat-trick in the game.
2002: Germany v Saudi Arabia (8-0)
The most recent World Cup big win came at the Japan/South Korea tournament when Germany ran riot against Saudi Arabia, beating them 8-0.
It took 20 minutes for Germany to get their first thanks to Miroslav Klose – his first World Cup goal, but went onto get three in the game, which were all headers!
He became only the second player in World Cup history to score a hat-trick with his head in a game – Thomas Skuhravy is the other (1990, Czech).
Klosse went onto score 16 World Cup goals (24 games) over four tournaments. Germany and Klosse reached the final that year, but went down 2-0 to Brazil, which up till 2022 is Brazil’s most recent World Cup win.
Where Does Spain’s 7-0 Costa Rica Win Fit In?
Spain’s 7-0 win at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar puts them just behind the top six matches – they join the likes of Portugal, Poland, Uruguay and Turkey, who have also recorded 7-0 World Cup wins over the years.
- Spain 7-0 Costa Rica, 2022
- Portugal 7-0 North Korea, 2010
- Poland 7-0 Haiti, 1974
- Uruguay 7-0 Scotland, 1954
- Turkey 7-0 South Korea 1954
WATCH: Spain v Costa Rica Highlights
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