‘I like Messi’: What North Koreans think of soccer beyond their borders

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‘I like Messi’: What North Koreans think of soccer beyond their borders

The country’s relative openness to sports allows DPRK fans to follow superstars and take inspiration from their feats

Shreyas Reddy | Yeji Chung December 28, 2022

‘I like Messi’: What North Koreans think of soccer beyond their borders

North Korean state television broadcasts Lionel Messi's moment of World Cup triumph | Image: KCTV (Dec. 19, 2022)

Soccer fans across North Korea have tuned into state TV over the past week and a half for repeated replays of the World Cup final, watching Lionel Messi lead Argentina to victory in a thrilling penalty shootout over defending champions France.

And if state propaganda is to be believed, many North Koreans likely celebrated the storybook ending to the Argentine superstar’s World Cup saga.

About the Authors

Shreyas Reddy

Shreyas Reddy is a correspondent at NK News, based in Seoul. He previously worked as a researcher at BBC Monitoring, where his work focused on news and key people and organizations from the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Follow him on Twitter @shreyas_k_reddy.

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Yeji Chung

Yeji Chung is an editorial intern at NK News and studies political science at George Washington University.

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