Who played with whom?. The qualifiers began: Yesterday, in the first and only match so far, the Canadian team beat South Africa by at least 1:0. The match was very boring (Canada’s score was 1.30, South Africa’s score was 0.16 (!)), and the only goal was scored in the second added minute, when the teams were clearly preparing for extra time. In the 1/8 finals, the Canadians will play with Morocco or the Netherlands.
A separate fact from the fans. The Canadian team’s victory overcame the “Drake Curse” — a popular meme according to which athletes or teams inevitably (or… barely Inevitably) they lose if a rapper publicly bets too big on them. In recent years, Drake has been consistently wrong in his predictions for the NHL Finals, NBA Finals, US Open and other tournaments in a variety of sports. A month ago, he lost a million dollars betting on Arsenal in the Champions League final. And now – finally success: the rapper bet 770 thousand on the victory of his original team (Drake Kennedy) and won 1.01 million.
What are they talking about?. In South Korea, the team’s unexpected early exit from the World Cup has turned into a political issue. It’s all about head coach Hong Myung-bo. His appointment two years ago was criticized across the country for a lack of transparency and potential favoritism. Hong obtained the position after a brief interview with a Football Association official, while foreign coach candidates were rejected through multi-level selections.
Hong Myung-bo himself has already announced his resignation and takes responsibility for the national team’s failed performance. But many want sports officials to share this responsibility with him. Among them is South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. Emotionally mail On the social media network
Picture of the day. Canada, one of the tournament’s host nations, played its first ever World Cup playoff match not on home soil, but in Los Angeles. At home, tens of thousands of fans supported her in fan zones (Photo: Vancouver).
Next in the program. Today there are three matches of the 1/16 Finals, all featuring top teams. Brazil will play (20:00 Moscow time) with Japan, and Germany (23:30 Moscow time) will play with Paraguay. At 4:00 Moscow time, the most interesting pairing in the first round of qualifying will be Netherlands vs. Morocco.
Full tournament schedule and detailed results – here.