"I was inside that ship." That's how Brazilian influencer Vo Bahiana describes her recurring dream about the upcoming Brazil vs Scotland Group C match in Miami — a dream that, according to her, ends with thousands of fans being beamed aboard a mothership.
She posted a video warning that on the 24th, "something very bad is about to happen at this game, at this soccer field in Miami." The aliens, in her account, arrive with the first ship, scoop up the players — presumably including Neymar and Vinicius — and then a larger mothership comes back for the crowd. Screaming. Crying. Tears. The whole thing.
To be clear: this is not a prediction anyone at Betzoid is factoring into their Group C analysis.
What's actually at stake in Miami
Brazil need the win to guarantee their place in the Round of 32. Scotland, meanwhile, are in a more interesting position — a draw keeps their hopes alive as a best third-placed team, and a win puts them through as one of the group's top two. That's a match with real tension baked in, entirely independent of extraterrestrial interference.
The alien story would be easy to laugh off entirely if it weren't for the other supernatural subplot running through this World Cup. Nana Kwaku Bonsam — a Ghanaian witch doctor whose name translates as "Devil of Wednesday" — has publicly announced he is "working on" Harry Kane ahead of England's clash with Ghana. He's not wishing Kane serious injury, he says. Just enough to stop him.
Bonsam has claimed this kind of thing before. In 2014, he said he engineered a knee injury that threatened Cristiano Ronaldo's participation in the World Cup ahead of Portugal's match against Ghana. Make of that what you will.
The World Cup's strangest subplot
Every tournament gets its fringe predictions and its witch doctors. What's unusual here is the sheer variety — aliens in Miami, black magic in the Kane camp, and a World Cup still throwing up genuinely unpredictable football results to match. The group stage odds have already been scrambled enough by actual football. The supernatural elements are just noise.
Still, if you had Brazil to win Group C and the match somehow ends in a UFO incident, that's probably not covered in your accumulator's terms and conditions.
"I am very terrified because it is the second time I am dreaming about this," Vo Bahiana said. At least someone's committed to the bit.
