We’ve covered the heartache for some highly-ranked teams who were among the possibly favorites at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — the group of national squads that didn’t make it past the group stages that included Germany and Belgium.
So let’s do something else and flip it to the other side. There were some teams who weren’t that highly rated that qualified for the round of 16 knockout stages by finishing top-two in their groups.
You could see what it meant to those teams when they realized they had made it, the emotions pouring out. It’s incredible to see.
So let’s run through some of the more surprising teams who made it through:
Australia
They’re ranked 38th in FIFA’s rankings, and they finished second in Group D to move on. They’ll face Argentina on Saturday.
It's 2am in Melbourne, Australia and this is the scene at Fed Square to watch the FIFA World Cup 🤯🇦🇺
(via @JeddZetzer)pic.twitter.com/QrcVtmDxJM
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 30, 2022
Japan
Ranked 24th in the world, they won a really tough group that included Spain, Germany and Costa Rica.
South Korea
A late goal clinched it for this team, and what a thrilling moment it was when it became official:
A superb assist from Son Heung-Min helps send South Korea through to the knockout stage 🇰🇷🤩
Relive South Korea's STUNNING victory in our 90' in 90" highlights ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/DsRKU360uV
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 2, 2022
South Korea fans and players had to wait in the stadium and watch from their phones as the final minutes of Uruguay-Ghana played out 🇰🇷
Watch the reaction after South Korea finally clinched its spot in the knockout stage ⬇️🎉 pic.twitter.com/nY8WTnfbuG
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 2, 2022
Poland
They’re 26th in the world and made it out of the group stages.
