When the United States soccer team arrived in Brazil for the 1950 World Cup, its largely anonymous players faced 500-to-1 odds that they would come home as champions.
Soccer was barely a blip on the American sports scene back then, except for weekend leagues with an immigrant fan base, and to no one’s surprise the Americans were eliminated in the Cup’s first round.
But before that happened, they pulled off what is still considered by many to be the greatest upset in the history of international soccer: a 1-0 victory over England, co-favorites with Brazil to win the tournament.