No goals, no fans, no TV: Koreas draw 0-0 in blacked-out World Cup qualifier
- Only a few spectators that included Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who flew into Pyongyang earlier in the day, attended the match
- A DVD recording of the game has been promised by North Korean officials to give to their South counterparts
North and South Korea drew 0-0 in a historic but surreal World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, played in front of an empty stadium and almost completely blocked off from the outside world.
The showdown between the two sides – whose countries are still technically at war – took place at Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung Stadium with no live broadcast, no supporters and no foreign media in attendance.
Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min captained South Korea in the first competitive men’s match to be played in Pyongyang but frustrated South Korean fans, who were not allowed to travel to the game, will have to wait days to see it on television – after officials bring back a recording on DVD.
“North Korea promised to provide a DVD containing full footage of the match before our delegation departs,” the South’s unification ministry, which handles cross-border affairs, said in a statement.
The only simple way to follow the match, which the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had billed as “one of the most eagerly anticipated fixtures” for years, was via the limited online text commentary posted on Fifa and AFC websites.
