One reason every team at the World Cup can win

Peru: The Children of Llullaillaco

Peru will be playing in their first World Cup since 1982, thanks to a very unlikely source playing a major role in their qualifiers.

Peru’s star striker Paola Guerrero was suspended in late December of 2017 after testing positive for a substance called benzoylegonine, a banned stimulant found in cocaine, after a match against Argentina in October during World Cup qualifiers. He claimed the substance was from drinking tea that included coca leaves, thereby absolving him of any wrongdoing. This was Guerrero’s best shot at reducing his one-year ban, but how his lawyers convinced FIFA to do so was wild.

The story of the Children of Llullaillaco and how they were used to create his defense is best read in its entirety.

Essentially, archeologists located the mummified remains of three children from the 1500s, whose Incan rituals included eating and drinking the same plant used in the tea that Guerrero claims to have drank. When scans of their bodies were done, they included, hundreds of years later, the same substance Guerrero had in his system, proving, at least to FIFA, enough doubt that it was just from the coca leaves in his tea. They reduced his one-year ban to six months, allowing him to play in the World Cup this year.

Peru were the last countries to qualify for the tournament, and have one of the biggest uphill climbs out of any team in the World Cup. They would’ve had an even worse shot without one of the countries most decorated national team players. They have, in part, the Children of Llullaillaco to thank for that.