Final preparations are underway for the World Cup, as the 48 teams poised to head out to North America for this summer’s showdown are all in action in warm-up friendlies.

Most teams are playing two separate friendly games, some in their homeland or some in North America, with the games serving as the perfect opportunity to try out different players and tactics before the real thing gets underway. But already, there have been a number of shock results.

One has to be careful not to read too deeply into the fixtures.

With players being rotated, rested, and in some cases playing out of position, these matches aren’t a true barometer of where a team currently stands in their preparations for the upcoming tournament. With that being said, however, let’s take a look at several results that have certainly caught the eye.

Spain 1-1 Iraq

Online betting sites make Spain the favorites to win the World Cup this summer, positioning them as a narrow 9/2 frontrunner ahead of a France side looking to reach a record-equaling third straight final. However, the popular betting odds calculator at Thunderpick shows just how tight things are between the two teams. The betting tool shows that a £10 bet on Spain would potentially return £45 in winnings should La Roja lift the trophy, with the same stake on France paying a narrowly higher £50.

But in Spain’s first warm-up friendly ahead of the World Cup, they didn’t play like favorites. Far from it.

La Roja hosted minnows Iraq in La Coruña and rested a number of their biggest names. Lamine Yamal, Rodri, and Nico Williams weren’t included in the match day squad, but still, some big names did start. The Barcelona trio of Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo, and Gavi were in the starting eleven and should have provided enough firepower for the reigning European Champions to get the win. Torres indeed gave the hosts an early lead, but a venomous strike from Viktoria Plzen defender Merchas Doski drew the visitors level.

Once the Iraqis had a foothold in the game, they simply refused to surrender. Spain pushed forward throughout the second half, with each of Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Garcia, Torres again, and Dani Olmo all squandering good chances. The contest would eventually finish 1-1, and that’s certainly not the ideal way for World Cup favorites to perform on the beautiful game’s grandest stage.

France 1-2 Ivory Coast

The one positive about Spain’s performance was the fact that they didn’t lose. The same cannot be said for second-favourites France.

Didier Deschamps fielded a strong side for the clash with the Ivory Coast in Nantes. His talisman and captain Kylian Mbappe led the line, while each of Michael Olise, Aurelien Tchouameni, Ibrahima Konate, Jules Kounde, Dayot Upamecano, and Mike Maignan — presumed starters for the French this summer — featured in the starting 11. Rayan Cherki, also in line to start in place of the retired Antoine Griezmann, gave the hosts the lead on the stroke of half-time, and it appeared like everything was going according to plan.

Then, it didn’t. Strasbourg wing-back Guéla Doué — older brother of French winger Désiré — turned the game on its head when he equalized shortly after the break. Then, he turned provider, setting up Amad Diallo after fine work down the right-hand side, and the Manchester United winger duly slotted home to hand the Elephants a famous 2-1 win.

How this will affect the French team – who’ve featured in the last two finals – ahead of the World Cup remains to be seen. The upcoming World Cup will be the first in over a decade in which neither Griezmann nor Olivier Giroud — also now retired — is in the squad. Are they struggling without two key pieces of the puzzle from tournaments gone by? We won’t have to wait long to find out.

Netherlands 0-1 Algeria

Many consider the Netherlands one of the dark horses to win the World Cup. Their defence is, on paper, arguably the strongest at the tournament. Captain Virgil van Dijk remains a brick wall at the heart of the back line, while Jurrien Timber has shone with Arsenal over the last two years. Add to that names such as Micky van de Ven and Nathan Ake, and the Oranje will certainly take some prising open this summer.

Ronald Koeman’s men were huge favourites to win their recent warm-up friendly against Algeria in Rotterdam, and they played as such, dominating from the outset and throughout. Despite a slew of chances for the in-form Donyell Malen and Liverpool winger Cody Gakpo, the opening goal never came. And in the end, the Dutch would regret their missed opportunities.

With just four minutes remaining, Algerian winger, Anis Hadj Moussa — a man who plays his club football in the very De Kuip Stadium the game was being held in with Feyenoord — lashed home a stunning winner. Okay, we’re not in the “real” matches yet, but questions are already circling over manager Koeman, and this defeat certainly isn’t ideal.