Brazil vs. Haiti, Belgium vs. New Zealand: FIFA spotlights World Cup's 'David vs. Goliath' matchups

The World Cup, held every four years, brings together national teams that have battled through grueling qualifying campaigns. The 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America has expanded the field from 32 to 48 teams, but the tournament remains a stage for world-class competition.

Even so, extremes are inevitable. The gap in quality between the top-ranked and bottom-ranked sides is real — scorelines of five or ten goals are not unheard of. What makes the tournament compelling is that, on rare occasions, those mismatches produce stunning upsets.

FIFA highlighted those potential upsets Thursday on its website, framing the clashes between powerhouses and underdogs at the 2026 World Cup as "David vs. Goliath" battles.

FIFA cited the Group C match between title contender Brazil (ranked sixth) and Haiti (ranked 83rd) as the standout example. Brazil will face Haiti in their second group-stage game on June 20 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

"Five-time World Cup champions Brazil enter the tournament ranked sixth, while Haiti — making their first appearance at the finals since 1974 — are ranked 83rd," FIFA said. "Brazil have won all three previous meetings between the sides, with the last two ending in six-goal victories for the Seleção."

FIFA's second pick was the Group G match between Belgium (ninth) and New Zealand (85th), scheduled for June 27. The two senior national teams have never previously met.

"New Zealand are returning to the World Cup for the first time since 2010, when they drew all three group-stage games against Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay — an unusual record of going unbeaten yet still going out," FIFA said. "Their 1-1 draw against Italy, the 2006 World Cup winners, remains the greatest result in New Zealand football history."

FIFA's third selection was the Group E opener between Germany (10th) and Curaçao (82nd), to be played on June 15.

"Curaçao are making their World Cup debut and face a daunting first test against four-time champions Germany," FIFA said. "Germany themselves know that rankings offer no guarantees — they were eliminated in the group stage for the first time ever at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, beaten by South Korea."

Two more matchups made FIFA's list: England (fourth) vs. Ghana (73rd) in a Group L second-round game on June 24, and top title favorite Spain (second) vs. Cape Verde (67th) in their Group H opener on June 16.

In the biblical story, David defeated Goliath — but in football, such outcomes are exceedingly rare. Still, FIFA said the tournament "has repeatedly shown throughout history that world rankings do not guarantee victory," leaving the door open for upsets.

FIFA recalled several famous examples: Saudi Arabia's shock victory over Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar; Cameroon's defeat of defending champions Argentina at the 1990 tournament in Italy; and North Korea's celebrated upset of Italy at the 1966 World Cup in England.