Was England’s loss to Afghanistan the biggest upset in English sporting history.

Most people I’d talk about cricket were expecting Afghan’s to take a scalp or 2. I didn’t feel shocked when i saw the result. Conditions favoured Afghanistan more so than England

Ireland beating England was a much bigger shock
 
I guess we’ll only know how big once all games have been played say for instance if they lose to the Dutch etc.
 
Jedi boro said:
I was thinking about this earlier and bearing in mind they had only ever won 1 game previously in a World Cup snd that against Scotland in 17 games only 1 win plus they are a nomadic nation with no real base or infrastructure.

I’d say it must be ad yes in football we’ve had our moment ms but never really lost to a true Minnow like a Faroe or San Marino ?
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No. Spinning subcontinent pitches and the fact that they have a few top players from the IPL. Cricket is a team sport with individual battles so 3 good players in an average team can make a bigger difference.
 
The best thing that might come out of this defeat is that those in charge accept that the 100 is a bag a ***** and should be binned.
I won't hold my breath as I'd like a few more years.
 
RedAsABeetroot said:
The best thing that might come out of this defeat is that those in charge accept that the 100 is a bag a ***** and should be binned.
I won't hold my breath as I'd like a few more years.
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The best thing about the Hundred is the women’s matches. ECB are heading to ditching the 100 ball stuff and doing T20 but with the same branding and showbiz (probably what they should have done all along).
 
allied_assault said:
Didn’t our boys take a hell of a beating by Norway
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I was in Norway for that one. England were one up when the television news came on at the regular time so the football coverage ended. The news was interrupted for both of Norway's goals then went back to full coverage at the end of the news. The atmosphere in the pub was wonderful obviously but there were some very angry English fans, the coverage and the defeat were too much to take.
 
atypical_boro said:
A lot is made of world rankings before world cups. How often do they actually mean anything? Ireland were ranked #1 before the RWC.

It’s the current champions and of the “big 3” against a side who’ve won one World Cup match previously. It’s still a shock! Even if it’s not the biggest of all time.
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Is anybody saying it wasn't a shock? The main discussion is whether it was the greatest of all - which it certainly isn't.
 
Don't discount the World Cup sensation that happened right here in Middlesbrough. Italy were amongst if not THE favourites for the 1966 World Cup and were defeated and knocked out by the minnows and anti heroes of North Korea 1-0 at Ayresome Park. The Italians went home in disgrace trying to sneak in to Italy through the back door but were ambushed with rotten fruit and veg at the airport. North Korea marched on and after taking an amazing 3-0 lead at half time over Portugal were destroyed in the second half by one of the greatest forwards of his day and all time, Eusebio in the second half. North Korea finally lost that quarter final 5-3 at Goodison Park. I have an original photo of the team waving goodbye at the end of that remarkable game and their equally remarkable World Cup run.
 
fmttmadmin said:
Don't discount the World Cup sensation that happened right here in Middlesbrough. Italy were amongst if not THE favourites for the 1966 World Cup and were defeated and knocked out by the minnows and anti heroes of North Korea 1-0 at Ayresome Park. The Italians went home in disgrace trying to sneak in to Italy through the back door but were ambushed with rotten fruit and veg at the airport. North Korea marched on and after taking an amazing 3-0 lead at half time over Portugal were destroyed in the second half by one of the greatest forwards of his day and all time, Eusebio in the second half. North Korea finally lost that quarter final 5-3 at Goodison Park. I have an original photo of the team waving goodbye at the end of that remarkable game and their equally remarkable World Cup run.
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Jedi said 'English sporting history' though. Not sure it counts just because it was in England.
 
Biggest upset for the England national team was surely England 3 Hungary 6. This is generally viewed as the game in which English notions of footballing superiority were well and truly dismissed. Despite the 1 nil loss to USA and failure to take home the world cup a few years earlier.
Perhaps with it being at home and in full view of the press. Bobby Robson quote lifted from wiki.

Sir Bobby Robson said of the game: "We saw a style of play, a system of play that we had never seen before. None of these players meant anything to us. We didn't know about Puskás. All these fantastic players, they were men from Mars as far as we were concerned. They were coming to England, England had never been beaten at Wembley – this would be a 3–0, 4–0 maybe even 5–0 demolition of a small country who were just coming into European football. They called Puskás the 'Galloping Major' because he was in the army – how could this guy serving for the Hungarian army come to Wembley and rifle us to defeat? But the way they played, their technical brilliance and expertise – our WM formation was kyboshed in ninety minutes of football. The game had a profound effect, not just on myself but on all of us." Robson went on to say: "That one game alone changed our thinking. We thought we would demolish this team – England at Wembley, we are the masters, they are the pupils. It was absolutely the other way
 
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