{"id":13644,"date":"2026-06-10T08:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T01:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=13644"},"modified":"2026-06-10T08:26:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T01:26:23","slug":"the-divine-ponytail-drug-scandals-and-the-oj-simpson-chase-looking-back-at-the-1994-us-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/the-divine-ponytail-drug-scandals-and-the-oj-simpson-chase-looking-back-at-the-1994-us-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018Divine Ponytail\u2019, drug scandals and the OJ Simpson chase: looking back at the 1994 US World\u00a0Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\">As the world prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup \u2013 to be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States throughout June and July \u2013 many sports fans have been looking back to 1994, the last time it was hosted in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The 1994 World Cup was spectacular, chaotic and ultimately, a great success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Its opening day was also one of the craziest days in world sports history \u2013 but that\u2019s only part of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A controversial host<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The US was chosen as host in 1988, ahead of Brazil and Morocco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The decision was controversial: soccer was not a popular national sport in the US, it did not have a professional league, and hadn\u2019t qualified for a World Cup since 1950.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">A national poll taken three weeks before the first game indicated 71% of Americans were not aware the tournament was about to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The draw<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The draw, to decide which countries would play each other in the group stage, was held in Las Vegas in December 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">It was attended by famous actors, musicians, supermodels and athletes, and was intended to gain as much attention as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The late Robin Williams stole the spotlight with his improvisation, jokes at the expense of FIFA officials and enthusiasm for speaking gibberish to foreign dignitaries instead of their own languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"USA &#039;94 | FIFA World Cup Draw | EUROSPORT\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WxX2tQNiv6w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\"><em>The 1994 US World Cup featured so much action, even before it started.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Opening ceremony<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The star-studded opening ceremony was held in Chicago in front of a sold-out crowd of 67,000, with another 750 million watching on television around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">It was hosted by Oprah Winfrey (who fell off the stage), and featured famous musicians such as Richard Marx and Diana Ross (who missed a penalty from five metres as part of a choreographed stunt).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Then-president Bill Clinton officially opened the tournament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Diana Ross and The Opening Ceremony of USA &#039;94\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ld0BfTAlAEo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\"><em>The opening ceremony was memorable in many ways.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A wild first day<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The first day of the World Cup \u2013 June 17 1994 \u2013 was one of the craziest days in US sports history. Along with the opening ceremony and games, other sporting events to occur on this date included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">game 5 of the NBA finals between the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">a tickertape parade for the New York Rangers after they broke a 54-year drought to win ice hockey\u2019s Stanley Cup<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">golfing great Arnold Palmer played the last US Open of his career at 64 years old<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Ken Griffey tying Babe Ruth\u2019s record for 30 home runs in the first half of a Major League Baseball season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Amazingly, these events were all overshadowed and interrupted by an even bigger sports-related moment: nearly 100 million people in the US tuned in to watch a car chase across southern California involving former American football star OJ Simpson who was arrested for murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">ESPN made a popular documentary about the events of this day titled \u201cJune 17th, 1994\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DLAA4COOGjB\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"><div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DLAA4COOGjB\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\"> <div style=\" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\"> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;\"><svg width=\"50px\" height=\"50px\" viewBox=\"0 0 60 60\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\"><g stroke=\"none\" stroke-width=\"1\" fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><g transform=\"translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)\" fill=\"#000000\"><g><path d=\"M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631\"><\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div><div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\"> <div style=\" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\"><div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: auto;\"> <div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/a><p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DLAA4COOGjB\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\" target=\"_blank\">A post shared by CNN Sports (@cnnsport)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The on-field action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Once the games began, \u201cUSA 94\u201d gave fans far more than a novelty tournament in a new market. It was a World Cup of firsts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">player names appeared on shirts for the first time, helping new viewers follow the action, and more points were given for a win in group matches to encourage more attacking play<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">the US\u2019 1-1 draw with Switzerland at the Pontiac Silverdome became the first World Cup match played indoors<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">the Brazil-Italy final finished 0-0 after extra time and became the first World Cup final decided by penalties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The host nation also gave its new audience something to cheer about. The US reached the knockout stage, then faced Brazil on July 4: Independence Day. Brazil won 1-0, but the symbolism was hard to miss \u2013 the underdog host had pushed one of football\u2019s great powers on the country\u2019s biggest national holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">There were bigger shocks elsewhere. Bulgaria became the tournament\u2019s great surprise story, beating defending champions Germany and reaching the semi-finals. Romania, led by Gheorghe Hagi, knocked out Argentina in a 3-2 thriller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Saudi Arabia produced one of the goals of the tournament when Saeed Al-Owairan ran from deep inside his own half to score against Belgium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Saeed Al Owairan\u2013Goal -Saudi Arabia v Belgium\u2013Group F World Cup USA-29th June 1994- Washington\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zAlZWoPQF4o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\"><em>Saeed Al-Owairan\u2019s wonder goal against Belgium.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">For a World Cup sometimes remembered through scandal and celebrity, the football itself delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In the end, Brazil won the final after extra time, but not as the carefree entertainers many people expected. This Brazil was organised, tough and powered by Rom\u00e1rio and Bebeto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Then came the image that still defines the tournament: Roberto Baggio, Italy\u2019s famous \u201cDivine Ponytail\u201d, sending the final kick over the bar and handing Brazil its fourth men\u2019s World Cup title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThe Man Who Died Standing\u201d <br><br>Roberto Baggio\u2019s Penalty Miss in the 1994 World Cup Final Means Brazil Are World Champions! \ud83d\udc94 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/W1PBr1O6ep\">pic.twitter.com\/W1PBr1O6ep<\/a><\/p>&mdash; FootballingGods \u2022 Football \u2022 F\u00fatbol \u2022 Soccer (@footballinggod5) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/footballinggod5\/status\/1935311579328762092?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 18, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other notable incidents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">One of soccer\u2019s greatest players, Argentina\u2019s Diego Maradona, scored a goal against Greece, but failed a drug test after his next game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">He was withdrawn from the tournament before he could be banned but stayed in the US as a commentator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The goalposts collapsed during the Romania vs Mexico match, causing a lengthy delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">To appease European broadcasters, most games started around midday US time. As a result, some fixtures were played in extreme temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Colombia defender Andres Escobar scored an own goal against US that resulted in his team being knocked out of the competition. When he returned to Colombia, he was shot dead by gangsters amid speculation his error had cost drug barons millions in gambling losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The legacy of \u2018USA 94\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The 1994 World Cup\u2019s lasting legacy was soccer becoming more popular in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">A successful professional soccer league (Major League Soccer) was set up after the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The US also hosted, and won, the women\u2019s soccer World Cup in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In the end, the 1994 tournament exceeded expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">More than 3.5 million spectators attended it, an average of nearly 70,000 a match: still records 32 years and seven world cups later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/vaughan-cruickshank-396715\">Vaughan Cruickshank<\/a>, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-tasmania-888\">University of Tasmania<\/a><\/em> and <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/brendon-hyndman-176001\">Brendon Hyndman<\/a>, Associate Professor of Education, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/charles-sturt-university-849\">Charles Sturt University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">This article is republished from <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/the-divine-ponytail-drug-scandals-and-the-oj-simpson-chase-looking-back-at-the-1994-us-world-cup-280588\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the world prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup \u2013 to be hosted by Canada, Mexico and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[276,431],"class_list":["post-13644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-fifa","tag-world-cup"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WorldCup1994BulgariaGermany.jpg",1722,1145,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WorldCup1994BulgariaGermany-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WorldCup1994BulgariaGermany-300x199.jpg",300,199,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WorldCup1994BulgariaGermany-768x511.jpg",640,426,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WorldCup1994BulgariaGermany-1024x681.jpg",640,426,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WorldCup1994BulgariaGermany-1536x1021.jpg",1536,1021,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WorldCup1994BulgariaGermany.jpg",1722,1145,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WorldCup1994BulgariaGermany-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WorldCup1994BulgariaGermany-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/category\/newsbeat\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WorldCup1994BulgariaGermany.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13645,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13644\/revisions\/13645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}