Let’s be honest, as European capital names go, Budapest (Hungary) and Bucharest (Romania) are pretty similar. It’s even slightly closer in French: Budapest and Bucarest. Still, for six French football fans who wanted to watch last week’s France v. Hungary match live, we can only wonder how this geographic blooper could have gone this far.
Oui, oui…the supporters of les Bleus wound up in Bucharest, watching the game on television, rather than the stadium Budapest where France and Hungary finished in a 1-1 draw.
It’s unclear who bought the plane tickets, but as local Romanian newspaper Jurnalu National reports, these fans took quite a while to realize their mistake. Non, non, it wasn’t at the airport or hotel: Indeed, they still thought they were going to see the game live when they spotted other football fans on the streets of Bucharest wearing yellow and blue outfits.
“We thought they were Hungarian supporters who were also going to the stadium,” they told Jurnalu National. In reality, they were a group of Ukrainian supporters, who had arrived early before their country’s game, scheduled a few days after in the Romanian capital. (Also, Hungary’s colors are red and green …)
The French fans eventually found out they travelled to the wrong country while sharing beers with the Ukrainian supporters. “We should learn more about Europe,” one of the confused supporters confessed.
The European football championship is usually hosted in only one or two countries, but this year’s matches are spread around 11 nations, giving soccer fans a chance to improve their knowledge in geography — or get lost on their way to the stadium.
Next up for the French team, which qualified for the round of 16, is Switzerland, a game that will take place Monday … in Bucharest. So maybe our lovably lost fans just showed up early?
