At the World Cup group game
ZDF shows the wrong flag for minutes
June 17, 2026 – 9:19 p.mReading time: 1 min.
ZDF suffers a graphic glitch during the group game between Portugal and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The error is fixed at an inopportune time.
The start of the World Cup between Portugal and the Democratic Republic of Congo began with an unusual error in the ZDF broadcast. In the scoreboard, next to Portugal, the symbol of the DR Congo was not visible, but rather the national flag of Morocco – a red flag with a green star. The correct flag, light blue with a yellow star and red stripe, was missing for the first few minutes.
The false flag remained visible until the fourth minute before the graphic faded out completely. During this period, João Neves scored the first goal of the game, giving Portugal a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute. At this point the ad was still not visible.
It wasn’t until the eleventh minute that the scoreboard appeared again – this time with the correct flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo.