# Suède 7-1 Cuba : Le dernier bastion de l’outsider des Caraïbes

Sweden 7-1 Cuba: The Last Stand of the Caribbean Dark Horse

1958. Sweden. World Cup quarter-finals. Sweden vs Cuba. How did Cuba make it to the World Cup quarter-finals? They were a team of amateur players, training on dusty street pitches in Havana. In the first round, they pulled off a shock upset by eliminating Romania—a European team—and miraculously advanced to the knockout stage.

But the miracle came to a halt in the quarter-finals. The hosts, Sweden—the team boasting the Gre-No-Li trio—gave Cuba no chance. 7-1. Sweden's attacking firepower was overwhelming; they would go on to finish as runners-up in that World Cup, losing at home to a 17-year-old Brazilian kid named Pelé. Cuba's World Cup journey was over, but their quarter-final record stands to this day—no Caribbean team has ever gone further in the World Cup. Over sixty years later, Cuba can still say: "We once reached the World Cup quarter-finals." That statement came at the cost of a 7-1 thrashing.