2026 World Cup: Shakira fake, upset, water break fiasco, what you missed on Thursday night/Friday morning

A summary of what you missed on the night of June 11-12 regarding the 2026 World Cup.

So you chose to sleep in for this first night of the World Cup? Well, you were quite right. Slow and steady wins the race, and given the upcoming matches and the length of this World Cup, this first night was clearly one you could skip without too much risk, with only South Korea vs. Czech Republic on the schedule.

But at RMC Sport, we are professional to the very end and we give you a recap of everything that happened so you can start the day off right.

The result of the night: a stunning South Korea

After Mexico's comfortable victory against a very weak South Africa, only one match remained on the schedule between the other two teams in Group A, South Korea and the Czech Republic. It was initially quite dull, but then became very exciting after the Czechs opened the scoring somewhat unexpectedly. But above all, South Korea managed to overturn the scoreline against the tough Czech side, who, ironically, had a goal disallowed for offside before being completely overwhelmed.

The controversy of the night: cooling breaks are indeed the nightmare we expected

False refreshment breaks but real advertising traps, these interruptions in the middle of each period caused annoyance to everyone, including American football players, such as Alexi Lalas or women's football legend Carli Lloyd.

Worse still, in blatant disregard of all FIFA directives, American television simply forgot to return to the game after the referee had stalled for time to wait for the American viewers. Even Mauricio Pochettino weighed in with his reservations: "I don't like it," explained the US coach. "I only like it when conditions are extreme, but when conditions are good, it's pointless."

The crazy rumor of the night: it was a fake Shakira at the opening ceremony

Let's be clear from the start, this is the least credible rumor of this early part of the World Cup, but we had a great time looking at all the posts on social media analyzing in close-up on the blackheads and mini scars on Shakira's face to prove that no, it wasn't the famous Colombian singer but a double.

They didn't ask for his papers, so we can't be sure, but let's say there's a better chance of seeing a Somali referee at this World Cup than a fake Shakira on global television.

The image of the night: the Wilton Sampaio meme

This is the most shared video on social media, which also showed how quickly FIFA could shut down pirated videos from this World Cup: in the 84th minute, the Brazilian referee of the opening match sent off a South African player after reviewing the footage. As per the new protocol, he explained his decision over the microphone, but he stumbled over his English, and his accent did the rest. As a result, Mudau's look of incomprehension went viral.

The quote of the night: "Mbappé wants to play on the left. It's Deschamps who doesn't want to."

A punchy comment and a tidbit of information to Walid Acherchour's credit on the After show, around 1:34 AM (because the After show runs all night from 8 PM to midnight, listen on RMC radio and also on the After's YouTube channel). According to him, contrary to what's circulating, Kylian Mbappé is ready to let Ousmane Dembélé play center-back. Will the national team coach be convinced? For now, it seems he's the one holding things up.