6 bizarre past World Cup coincidences and curses fans still rave about
2026 FIFA World Cup is taking Singapore — and the rest of the world — by storm.
Beyond high-stakes football, the international competition is also full of inexplicably strange coincidences and even “curses” that fans obsess over every four years.
From a psychic octopus to Singapore’s unforgettable “own goal”, here are six weird World Cup stories and patterns that continue to live in everyone’s mind:
1. Paul the Octopus, underwater football pundit and predictor
Remember Paul the Octopus?
The sea creature became a global sensation during the 2010 FIFA World Cup after correctly predicting the outcome of all of Germany’s matches. The ‘psychic’ octopus even tipped Spain to beat the Netherlands in the final. Sadly, Paul died on Oct 26, 2010.
However, his uncanny streak turned him into an unlikely football celebrity and meme — even before memes were part of our collective internet consciousness.
2. “I hope Germany will win”: Singapore’s accidental ‘own goal’ with anti-gambling ad
A 2014 advertisement by the National Council on Problem Gambling featured a boy confiding to his friend that his father had bet all the family’s savings on a German victory. As fate would have it, Germany emerged champion at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil after defeating Argentina in the final.
The unexpected “own goal” became comedy gold worldwide, with the BBC reporting on the reactions surrounding the advertisement.
3. The mysterious ‘number 10’ Player of the Tournament trend
For five straight World Cups since 2006, the Golden Ball winner — which is awarded to the tournament’s best player — went to someone wearing a number 10 jersey.
This includes Zinedine Zidane (2006), Diego Forlán (2010), Luka Modrić (2018), and Lionel Messi (2014 and 2022). To date, Messi is the only player to have won the prestigious award twice in his career.
4. Argentina’s strange Nigerian coincidence
Argentina won the World Cup in 1978, 1986 and 2022. Oddly enough, Nigeria has failed to qualify for the tournament these three years.
The two nations have also faced each in five other consecutive tournaments during the group stage until this year, as Nigeria did not qualify. Does this mean yet another Argentina win?
5. The curse of the defending champions
Winning the World Cup apparently comes with some degree of bad luck, and reigning champions struggle to make it past even the group stage at their next tournament.
Several defending champions have crashed out in the group stage just at the very next tournament — including France (2002), Italy (2010), Spain (2014) and Germany (2018), fueling chatter of a “defending champion curse”.
6. Arsenal UEFA final = fourth World Cup title?
This coincidence is oddly specific, and involves another football tournament.
Fans have noticed that whenever Arsenal Football Club reach a European final in a World Cup year, a national team goes on to win its fourth World Cup title.
This has apparently been observed in 1994 (Brazil) and 2006 (Italy). This year, Arsenal was not just in the UEFA Champions League final — the club is also the Premier League champion. What could this possibly mean for the likes of Argentina, which has three titles?
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