North Korea posed World Cup ‘headache’ in 1966

THE British government hoped North Korea would fail to qualify for the 1966 World Cup finals as they believed the state’s presence in the competition could cause political “headaches”, documents have revealed.

Previously secret records released by the National Archives, shed light on the fraught exchanges between government officials over North Korea attending the finals.

The Foreign Office even considered refusing to grant visas to the North Koreans as a way to solve the diplomatic problem.