List of worst World Cup performances

Tunisia’s miserable World Cup campaign ended with zero points and a minus-10 goal difference after three Group F games following a 3-1 defeat by the Netherlands on Thursday.

Here, AFP Sport takes a look at the previous teams to rack up a minus goal difference of double digits while failing to get a group-stage point on the board:

North Korea (2010)

Group record (played, won, drawn, lost, goals scored, goals against, points): 3 0 0 3 1 12 0

— North Korea got off to a promising start in a fiendishly difficult Group G with a narrow 2-1 loss to Brazil, but were brought back down to earth by a 7-0 thumping at the hands of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and a 3-0 defeat by Ivory Coast.

Saudi Arabia (2002)

Group record: 3 0 0 3 0 12 0

— The Saudis got off to the worst possible start as Miroslav Klose scored his first World Cup goals with a hat-trick in an 8-0 victory for Germany, which was followed by 1-0 and 3-0 losses for Saudi Arabia to Cameroon and the Republic of Ireland respectively.

Greece (1994)

Group record: 3 0 0 3 0 10 0

— Another team which failed to score a goal on this list, Greece opened with 4-0 defeats by Argentina and Bulgaria, before losing 2-0 to group winners Nigeria.

El Salvador (1982)

Group record: 3 0 0 3 1 13 0

— El Salvador were the victims of the heaviest defeat in World Cup history when they lost 10-1 to Hungary in their opener. They then suffered further losses to Belgium and Argentina, as Hungary remarkably joined them in failing to go through.

New Zealand (1982)

Group record: 3 0 0 3 2 12 0

— New Zealand’s first World Cup didn’t go to plan in Spain, losing 5-2 to Scotland, 3-0 to the Soviet Union and 4-0 to Brazil.

Mexico (1978)

Group record: 3 0 0 3 2 12 0

— Perhaps a surprising nation on this list, Mexico kicked off their campaign in Argentina with a 3-1 defeat by Tunisia, were thumped 6-0 by reigning champions West Germany and then were beaten 3-1 by Poland.

Zaire (1974)

Group record: 3 0 0 3 0 14 0

— Zaire lost 9-0 to Yugoslavia, either side of a 2-0 loss to Scotland and a 3-0 reverse against Brazil. Now the Democratic Republic of Congo, they returned to the global stage earlier this month, getting their first-ever point against Portugal.

Haiti (1974)

Group record: 3 0 0 3 2 14

— Like DR Congo, Haiti also last played at the World Cup 52 years ago, when they also conceded 14 goals. A creditable 3-1 loss to Italy was followed by a 7-0 humbling by Poland and a 4-1 defeat against Argentina.

South Korea (1954)

Group record: 2 0 0 2 0 16 0

— Still the unwanted record holders for the worst World Cup, South Korea lost their first-ever match in the tournament 9-0 to Hungary, for whom Sandor Kocsis scored a hat-trick and Ferenc Puskas netted twice. It didn’t get much better in their second and last group match – a 7-0 thrashing by Turkey.

Special mention – Bolivia (1950)

Group record: 1 0 0 1 0 8 0

— Originally a 14-team World Cup with two four-team groups and two three-team groups in 1950, Bolivia ended up with only Uruguay for company in Group 4 after France withdrew from the tournament. Uruguay made short work of the ‘group’, winning 8-0 before going on to lift the title for the second time.