England players were caught up in a bomb scare during the World Cup, it has emerged today. A police dog handler marked an area of the team bus as positive for explosives after a claim there was a bomb on board. The drama happened ahead of the semi-final game against Argentina which England lost 2-1 after scoring the first goal.
False alarm caused by oil leak
A sniffer dog later corrected the canine agent's initial bomb confirmation, Spanish press which obtained details of the scare reported. It was subsequently discovered the false alarm was caused by a mechanical failure involving an oil leak, Alicante-based daily Informacion said.
Referencing the England bus bomb scare, Informacion said as it offered new details about the security alerts faced during the World Cup via a leaked security services' report: “The most concerning occurred when someone claimed there was a bomb on the bus transporting the England team to play the semi-final against Argentina.”
“A canine agent (K-9) marked an area of the bus as positive for explosives. Another four-legged agent later corrected it. It was a false alarm caused by a mechanical failure involving an oil leak, according to the reports.”
Other threats revealed
It went on to reveal an X user wrote that if the controversial hydration breaks continued to be taken during matches, he would attack the home of FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The FBI is understood to have been made aware of the threat, although it was not made clear what action officials had taken to counter it.
US president Donald Trump was also reportedly the focus of several threats, with one occurring on June 22, according to Informacion, when an individual published an AI-generated video showing a Trump lookalike playing football in an Israel top against a supposed Lebanese national team. Drones are said to appear in a summary of the video seen by the Spanish newspaper and begin dropping explosives on the players, with the man resembling Trump dying in the attack and the images going on to show a young man wearing a Palestinian scarf.
Messi and Ronaldo targeted
New details about the security headaches neutralised by the FBI and a multi-agency command post called the IPCC set up to co-ordinate global law enforcement during the World Cup emerged shortly after Spanish media revealed late last week football icon Lionel Messi was the target of a chilling terror plot involving suicide bombers.
A fanatic vowed to blow up the Argentina star with a bomb vest during a match according to a police dossier. Before Argentina's match against Egypt he wrote on social media: “I'm going to walk into the Atlanta Stadium and blow up Messi with four bombs stuck to my body.” Another man was said to have called Dallas airport just before the Argentina vs Jordan group game to say he and two accomplices were headed to the city stadium with “home-made bombs and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.”
The report said Cristiano Ronaldo was also an alleged victim of World Cup attack fears. A FIFA employee raised the alarm after a “suspicious man” asked for “details” about the Portuguese star's World Cup accommodation. Another crazed fan broke into the footballer's hotel and tried to get into an elevator with him.
