Those of you who stayed up to watch Scotland’s game against Brazil on Wednesday night might have done so for reasons other than footballing ones – curious, perhaps, to see if Vo Bahiana’s prophecy would come true.

Bahiana is a Brazilian spiritualist, a holistic therapist and a priestess with more than 23 million social media followers, so she’s a bit on the popular side – and many of her fans take her predictions very seriously.

So, they were a little alarmed when she forecast that a spaceship would land in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium during the Scotland v Brazil game, enormous aliens would emerge from it and, using humongous mechanical arms, would abduct players and spectators and fly them back to space.

Mercifully, none of this came to pass, so Bahiana’s reputation for accuracy is a touch damaged. But you can, of course, insert your own gags here about how it might have been a less draining experience for the Tartan Army if a spaceship had indeed swooped and abducted their lads.

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Quote

“It’s got its uses when you are in the stadium. Being my age, it is a welcome break to go to the toilet.” Jürgen Klopp is no fan of hydration breaks, but he can see their benefits.

By numbers: 24,135

That’s how many miles Fifa president Gianni Infantino has travelled thus far in this World Cup, by ESPN’s calculations. No doubt in economy.

Word of Mouth

“If I’m Barcelona, I’m checking if the ink’s dry on that contract. £70m for Gordon? Newcastle must be laughing.” Gabby Agbonlahor suggesting that Anthony Gordon’s two World Cup performances so far will have Barca fearing they paid £69.5m too much for the fella.

“I’m just really good at scoring goals.” Erling Haaland. That he is.

“A bit unorthodox, a bit wild, not quite as tactical.” Bastian Schweinsteiger going all retro on us by giving a 1970s-like analysis of “African football”.

Sale of the century

Least surprising but admirable scoop of the World Cup? Probably the one produced by German public-broadcasting radio station Deutschlandfunk which has dug up evidence on eight football associations – the United States, Mexico, Iraq, Cape Verde, Ecuador, San Marino, Albania and the Cook Islands – being given cheap or freebie World Cup tickets by Fifa and then reselling them for “extortionate” prices.

Deutschlandfunk spoke to Florian Ederer about the matter, the economist suggesting that “if you pass on tickets to such associations that can be resold very expensively, then these associations will vote particularly enthusiastically for the Fifa president”.

Mexican wave

Just a small gathering in Mexico City to watch that 3-0 win over the Czech Republic...

Over 800,000 people gathered at the Angel de la Independencia in Mexico City to celebrate Mexico’s third win at the World Cup.

Words can’t describe this feeling. 🇲🇽🤯 pic.twitter.com/vYihsvEwXR— Ultras Clips (@ultras_clips) June 25, 2026

Part-time supporters

We’ve heard plenty about the cost of this World Cup for visiting fans, what with ticket, accommodation and transport prices, but the Telegraph has discovered that for a segment of Qatar’s support, the whole experience hasn’t cost a dime – or a Qatari riyal.

“The gas-rich nation has,” they claim, “been footing the bill for people to come to the United States and Canada to support the team throughout the tournament” with around 1,000 given an all-expense-paid trip.

But up to 2,000 Qatar fans attended their defeat by Bosnia and Herzegovina. Where did the extra 1,000 come from? “There are wild suggestions that local US and Mexicans may even have been paid to make up the numbers.”

“Many of us had never even set foot inside a stadium,” said one American at the game who was sporting a Qatar jersey, despite having no connection to the country at all. “I’ve had the time of my life.” All for free, too.

Source: The Irish Times