Reports coming in from Mexico have it that the local military intercepted and brought down an unregistered drone seen flying over the South Korean football team's training base before their World Cup match with co-hosts Mexico on Friday.

South Korea are preparing for the Group A game at their training base in Guadalajara, Mexico, where the drone was spotted during Tuesday's training session.

Of course the first thought that has entered everybody’s mind was that somebody was trying to spy on the Korean team’s tactics – at which point we sincerely hope English Championship team were taking notes. If you’re going to spy, at least send a drone; not a guy to hide behind a tree with an iPhone’s lens trained at the target.

South Korea’s manager Hong Myung-bo said at a news conference; "It ⁠did not impact ​us significantly, but while we were preparing for the match, that was the most important timing, so what happened was unfortunate."

The drone’s interception was part of a security operation implemented ‌across World Cup host cities that involved the co-ordination of thousands of personnel and advanced counter-drone technology

With both Mexico and South Korea opening their World Cup campaigns with three points, Friday's encounter could go a long way to deciding who tops the group.

This is not the first time a spying scandal has happened at a major world football tournament: In 2024, Canada's women's team was accused of using a drone to spy on a New Zealand training session before their opening match at the Paris Olympics.

Head coach Bev Priestman was subsequently dismissed by Canada Soccer and two coaching staff members were suspended as the 2020 gold medallists were deducted six points.

But give us the Southampton spying scandal all the time. We all sat down with a bowl of popcorn for that.