June 29 (1950)

In what will be remembered as perhaps the biggest upset in the history of the Men’s World Cup, the United States stuns England, 1-0, in a group stage match at Belo Horizonte, Brazil, with five St. Louisans in the starting lineup. The St. Louis starters are goalkeeper Frank Borghi (pictured), Charley Colombo, Harry Keough, Gino Pariani and Frank “Pee Wee” Wallace. St. Louisan Bob Annis is on the bench. Joe Gaetjens scores the game’s only goal in the 37th minute before a delirious pro-American crowd. “When we scored, I thought the whole stadium would come down,” Borghi tells Dave Lange in a 2009 interview. “The odds were like 500-to-1 against us to win that game.” One of the match’s other key plays happens as England presses for a tying goal with eight minutes left. England’s Stanley Mortensen breaks behind the U.S. defense just outside the penalty area and is about to go one-on-one against Borghi. Colombo controversially tackles Mortensen from behind. Referee Generoso Dattilo calls a foul but does not issue a red card that would have ejected Colombo. On the resulting free kick, Jimmy Mullen heads the ball past Borghi. Borghi reaches behind and knocks the ball away just before it crosses the goal line completely. The ecstatic Brazilian crowd carries Borghi and Gaetjens off the field after the match. The USA could have won 2-0, but English defender Alf Ramsey cleared a shot by Wallace off the goal line late in the match.