Eusebio scored four goals as Portugal came from 3-0 down to win an extraordinary 1966 World Cup quarter-final 5-3. Which underdog side had raced into that shock early lead?

The Day North Korea Almost Pulled Off the Greatest World Cup Upset

The 1966 World Cup quarter-final between Portugal and North Korea at Goodison Park, Liverpool, remains one of the most jaw-dropping matches in the tournament's entire history. Within 25 minutes, North Korea — a nation most of the world barely knew existed as a football force — were leading 3-0 against one of Europe's most talented sides. The crowd couldn't believe what they were seeing. Neither could Portugal.

North Korea's Shock Rise to the Quarter-Finals

To understand why this was so stunning, you have to rewind to the group stage. North Korea arrived in England as massive outsiders, widely expected to be cannon fodder. Instead, they pulled off one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history by beating Italy 1-0, eliminating the Azzurri in the group stage. The Italian players reportedly had to sneak home in disguise to avoid angry fans pelting them with rotten tomatoes at the airport. North Korea, meanwhile, became darlings of the English crowds, who loved an underdog.

Riding that wave of momentum into the quarter-final, North Korea came out with absolutely no fear. Pak Seung-Zin, Li Dong-Woon, and Yang Seung-Kook each found the net to put them 3-0 up and seemingly on course for a miracle run to the semi-finals.

Enter Eusébio

Then came one of sport's greatest individual rescue missions. Eusébio, Benfica's talismanic striker and arguably the finest player at the entire tournament, took matters entirely into his own hands. Over the course of a breathtaking second-half performance, he scored four goals — two from the penalty spot — dragging Portugal back from the brink single-handedly. José Augusto added a fifth to complete a 5-3 comeback that left Goodison Park in a state of collective astonishment.

Eusébio was seen leaving the pitch in tears at the final whistle — not tears of joy, but a complex mix of relief and emotion after the pressure he had carried. He finished the tournament as top scorer with nine goals, a record that stood for decades.

Why This Match Still Matters

This game captures everything that makes football so compelling. A small, isolated nation with virtually no footballing pedigree came within a moment of eliminating a major European power in a World Cup quarter-final. North Korea's players returned home as heroes — though the details of their reception behind the secretive regime's closed doors remain murky to this day.

For Portugal, it was a near-disaster turned triumph. They went on to finish third in the tournament, their best-ever World Cup result at that time. And Eusébio's performance that afternoon at Goodison Park cemented his place among the true legends of the game — a man who refused to let history pass him by.

Fifty-plus years on, the 1966 quarter-final still ranks as one of the wildest 90 minutes the World Cup has ever produced.