Imagine the scene: Brazil, 1950. Despite having boycotted the previous three World Cups, England, perceived as the “Kings of Football” arrived in South America on a mission to prove they were, in fact, the world’s best. They had 4-0 and 10-0 wins against Italy and Portugal respectively just before the tournament. As far as they were concerned, it was only a matter of time before the Jules Rimet Trophy was in their possession. Having swept aside Chile in their first game, England, one of the favourites to win the 1950 World Cup, faced the United States full of confidence. The American team, meanwhile, consisted of a group of amateurs, who were given the odds of 500-1 of winning the tournament, and to many even that seemed generous. Many of the team had day jobs to support their families - Bahr was a school teacher, Borghi drove a hearse and other players on the team were mail men, millers and dishwashers. McGlaughlin, meanwhile, had to withdraw from the squad as he couldn’t get the time off work.

 

The team only trained together once, and that was the day before they left for Brazil. Even their manager described his own side as “Sheep ready to be slaughtered”, while the English press wrote that it would be fair to give the U.S. a 3 goal head start. Before the cup, they had lost their previous 7 matches by a combined score of 45-2, and they had gone down 3-1 to Spain in their first group match. They certainly did not entertain any hopes of coming away from their match against England, a team filled with world renowned players such as Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney, with a win. Surely, the result was in the bag. Right? Wrong. 

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That day, Matthews, one of the greatest players of all time, was omitted from the England squad in an effort to save him for supposedly more difficult opponents. In those days, there weren’t any substitutes, meaning the legendary winger would not take part in the game. Despite this, England had no need to worry, having won 23 of 36 matches since the war.   Taking place on the 29th of June 1950 in Belo Horizonte, the game kicked off. Within the first 90 seconds, U.S, goalie Borghi managed to save a shot from Roy Bentley. As expected, England dominated play, with 6 shots on goal in the opening 12 minutes, two of those hitting the post. It was the 25th minute before the U.S. managed a shot on goal, which was blocked by England keeper Bert Williams, leading to a counter attack that produced three successive shots on the Americans goal, two going over the bar and a third tipped away by Borghi.

 

In the 37th minute, Bahr took a hopeful shot from 35 yards. As Williams moved to intercept, Gaetjens dived near the penalty spot, the ball just grazing off his head with enough momentum to fly to the left of the England keeper and into the net.  The crowd exploded into rapture as the U.S. amazingly took the lead 1-0. The crowd initially numbered just 10,000. But as the Brazilian locals heard about what was happening on the radio, hundreds more rocked up to the stadium to support the U.S, who hoped that as a result, Brazil would not have to play England in their next game. In the second half, the U.S. played with renewed confidence and created another scoring opportunity, but missed. Controversy came toward the end, with a header resulting from an Alf Ramsey free kick. Jimmy Mullen was convinced it was a goal, but the ref ruled that the ball had not crossed the line, and with that the final whistle was blown.

 

Headlines worldwide trumpeted one of the biggest upsets in world football history. When news reached the UK, it was initially thought that there was an error and that England had won 10-0. Both teams were eliminated soon after, and sadly the result was essentially ignored in the Americans home country, where at first it was dismissed as a hoax. In fact, only one American journalist was present at the game, and that was only because he happened to be on holiday in Brazil at the time. The event was eventually immortalized in a book and subsequent film called The Game of Their Lives, and as the biggest shock result of all time, the match continues to serve as a reminder that in football, anything is possible. 

Achievements: Ending the reign of the Kings of Football, the event that forced England to re-evaluate the way they played.

 

Star player: Joe Gaetjens – 19 March 1924, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

Joe Gaetjens, the sole scorer in the “Miracle on Grass” match against England and Americas forgotten World Cup hero, was born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti to a Haitian mother and a German father. His great grandfather was sent to Haiti by the King of Prussia as a business emissary.  His family was quite wealthy, and among the Haitian elite. A talented player winning two Ligue Haitienne titles, he realised he could not make a living from professional soccer and studied accounting at Columbia University, New York. He played 3 games in the 1950 World Cup, and his diving header made history as it resulted in the biggest upset of all time. Gaetjens was not even a U.S. citizen at the time, but luckily he was allowed to play under the rules of the U.S. Soccer Association as he had declared his intention of becoming one. After the World Cup, he moved to France and played for Racing Club de Paris, before returning to Haiti as an entrepreneur. Gaetjens was inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976. It’s thought that Gaetjens was murdered by the Haitian secret police following a coup in 1964. His body was never found.