Why We Love an Underdog

Jul 12

I was in the back of a small dark pub in Quebec City cheering for Cabo Verde as they scored against Uruguay. A week earlier, I didn’t even know Cabo Verde was in the World Cup. Yet there I was, completely invested in this underdog story.

To be fair, I was not exactly neutral going into this game as I have had a very specific World Cup grudge against Uruguay since 2010, when Luis Suárez stopped Ghana’s would-be winning goal with his hand in the final minute of extra time. Ghana should have been the first African team to make it past the quarter finals; they were the underdog that year and they should have advanced but because of unfair rules they were robbed. Which means even after sixteen years, I still root for Uruguay to lose. I know sports grudges are not always rational, but they are surprisingly durable.

Still, this was about more than wanting Uruguay to lose. Cabo Verde had become the kind of story people love to rally around. They were making their first World Cup appearance, playing on a stage where they were not expected to be the story and they held Spain to a 0-0 draw. That alone was remarkable because Spain entered the tournament as the reigning European champion, one of the favorites, and a team riding a 30-match unbeaten streak. According to beIN SPORTS, Spain had gone 30 matches without a defeat since a 1-0 loss to Colombia on March 22, 2024, with 23 wins and seven draws during that stretch

Cabo Verde was not supposed to be the team making everyone pay attention, which is exactly why everyone started paying attention.

There is a reason we are drawn to stories like that. Researchers have studied what is often called the “underdog effect,” the tendency for people to support those who are at a clear competitive disadvantage. In his research on underdogs, Nadav Goldschmied found that people are quick to categorize disadvantaged competitors as underdogs, and that resources play an important role in whether people align themselves with the side perceived as having a lower chance to succeed. His work also found that support for the underdog can be stronger than simply rooting against the favorite, which means we are often drawn toward the person or team with the longer odds, not just away from the team expected to win.

In a later study, Goldschmied explored what he called the appeal of the underdog and found that people often associate underdogs not only with disadvantage, but with the possibility of exceeding expectations. His research suggested that people see underdogs as unique because they are expected to do better than the original story predicted.

That is what makes an underdog so compelling; they interrupt the story we thought we already understood.

Underdogs remind us that the ending is not always as obvious as it looks, and that sometimes the team no one expected much from becomes the one everyone is suddenly watching. They make room for the idea that power, history, money, reputation, and expectation do not always get the final word.

Cabo Verde was not just playing a match. They were stretching the imagination a little.

We love underdogs because, somewhere deep down, most of us have felt like one. We know what it is like to be underestimated, overlooked, outresourced, or late to the game. We know what it is like to walk into a room where other people seem more prepared, more polished, or more expected to succeed. When an underdog rises, it feels bigger than a score; it feels like evidence.

Evidence that momentum can shift.

Evidence that people can surprise you.

Evidence that being unlikely does not make something impossible.

This week, pay attention to where you may have already assumed the outcome is decided. Maybe it is a person you have underestimated, an idea you dismissed too quickly, or a possibility you quietly ruled out because it seemed too unlikely.

Cabo Verde went on to tie both Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, advancing them to the Round of 32 where they went head-to-head with Argentina - another team favored to win. The small island nation, smallest country to ever make it this far in the World Cup, went on to tie Argentina taking them into extra time where Argentina scored and Cabo Verde once again answered with another goal. Unfortunately, their story ended in the 111th minute when Argentina took the lead again, ultimately winning 3-2.

What a game.

The underdog might not always win, but they can put up a hell of a fight, reminding us that we can too.