Finally, to get results against stronger opponents, teams need to offer a genuine threat in possession.
South Africa fired 14 shots to South Korea’s seven despite having just 31% possession.
They did this by advancing the ball upfield in a controlled way from the back rather than simply launching long kicks from the goalkeeper.
Underdogs that succeed often take short goal kicks to entice a high press from bigger nations, then clip passes into pockets where teammates have space.
Cape Verde, Iraq, and South Africa have all used short restarts, notably spreading players far apart.
By stretching the distances between teammates, man-to-man pressing opponents must cover long ground to close down, giving defenders time to pick out free midfielders and attackers.