World Cup fake news: No, Mexican fans didn’t cause an earthquake when they scored

It was one of the most remarkable results - and performances - of the World Cup so far, when a Mexico side pull of pace and invention beat the current holders Germany 1-0 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Sunday.

With Germany adopting an ultra-attacking style, they left gaps at the back which were ruthlessly exploited by a spirited Mexican team, who claimed one of the greatest results in their history.

The crucial moment came in the 35th minute, when Hirving Lozano received a pass from Javier Hernandez before cutting in and smashing home a shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

Naturally, those Mexico fans in the stadium erupted with joy - but so did all their supporters back home, so much so that it was widely reported that their celebrations had set off earthquake sensors in two sites in Mexico City, with the Institute of Geological and Atmospheric Investigations apperently referring to the incident as an “artificial” quake.

However, a new report suggests that this was ‘fake news’: with Mexico’s National Seismological Service saying that there was seismic activity around the country’s capital on Sunday - but it wasn’t linked to soccer fans celebrating their goal.

In a report, the Service says that there were two small earthquakes at 10:24am local time, and 12:01pm - but the goal was scored at 11:35am.

The Seismological Service explained that the city’s normal bustle of traffic, together with other movements, can cause vibrations that are detected by the sensitive instruments used to observe any quakes.

It added that these vibrations quietened in general during the match, and rose after the goal - but the two spikes were not connected.

Mexico next take on South Korea, who lost their opening game to Sweden after a VAR-assisted penalty, and victory will put them through to the second round for the seventh tournament in succession - though they haven’t made it through to the quarter-finals since they hosted the tournament in 1986.

(Images: Getty)