North Korea's football stadiums, shrouded in secrecy

The Chollima, as the national team is known—named after a mythical winged horse that flies at supersonic speeds and can never be mounted by mortal man—had not played a home game in Pyongyang for almost two years. The last, a 2-0 victory against Bahrain in a 2018 World Cup qualification in November 2015, was meant to be followed by more World Cup games. After all, North Korea has a pedigree when it comes to the World Cup and was considered one of Asia's stronger teams. But the facts on the ground had changed.