World Cup hot spots: Croatian president is all smiles

Belgium gains popularity despite losing to France

In a bistro in downtown Brussels, Belgium, there was a bet on France and Belgium. Surprisingly, the majority of customers bet on France rather than Belgium before that night's semifinal between the two neighboring countries.

It happens that there was a similar case. Pamir, an 11-year-old Tien Shan white-clawed bear, chose Belgium while attempting to predict the result between France and Belgium during an event at the Royev Ruchey Zoo in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Krfel, an appliances and electronics retail chain company of Belgium, even expressed before the World Cup that customers could buy their TVs for free before April 26 if Belgium succeeded in scoring more than 15 goals.

Belgium's Dries Mertens specially mentioned this at a news conference and said he would try his best to help their fans get free TVs.

By July 12, they had scored 14 goals after the match against France, where they lost 0-1.