The worst World Cup teams ever

2022 hosts were one of the worst-ever World Cup teams
2022 hosts were one of the worst-ever World Cup teams / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/GettyImages
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1. Zaire - 1974

World Cup - Zaire v Brazil
The Zaire back line trying to shut out Brazil forward Leivinha / VI-Images/GettyImages

The worst ever World Cup team, however, must be regarded as Zaire (now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo) - the other aforementioned memorably pitiful side in 1974.

Making their one and only World Cup appearance to date, the squad unsurprisingly lost all three of their group games - defeated 2-0 by Scotland, 9-0 by Yugoslavia and 3-0 by Brazil - racking up 14 goals at the wrong end and a big fat zero at the other.

Their performances will forever be written in legend for amounting to the worst ever goal difference in a World Cup group-stage campaign - for now, anyway.