Top 10 football conspiracy theories

4. South Korea theory

DAEJEON – JUNE 18: Hyeon Seol Ki of South Korea takes the ball past Christian Panucci of Italy during the FIFA World Cup Finals 2002 Second Round match played at the Daejeon World Cup Stadium, in Daejeon, South Korea on June 18, 2002. South Korea won the match 2-1 with a Golden Goal in extra-time. DIGITAL IMAGE. (Photo by Ben Radford/Getty Images)

Many people believe that the 2002 World Cup, which was held in South Korea, had been rigged by them so that the referees would be partial towards them. This was evident in numerous games against Portugal, Spain and most notably, Italy.

While the entire world was awaiting a high voltage clash between European rivals Italy and Spain, South Korea emerged out of nowhere to clinch Italy’s place in the aforementioned fixture. They were jumping into tackles the entire game without having a single decision go against them, and had numerous incorrect offsides and decisions help them out against Spain, who had two perfectly fair goals disallowed, and Portugal, where two of Portgual’s players were sent off incorrectly. The referee of the game, Byron Moreno, had been found guilty of corruption later on, strengthening Italy’s claim.

Many of the calls made by the referees went against Italy’s way, and controversially so. Francesco Totti was sent off for allegedly diving in the box, and Damiano Tommasi’s Golden Goal had been ruled offside. There is no proof off the pitch that the game was fixed, but on the pitch, one just needs to pick their remote and watch the game.

Verdict: Believable, but no evidence