David Beckham emotionally recalls being ‘spit at’ during 1998 World Cup hate

In his new tell-all Netflix documentary Beckham, David Beckham opened up about the depression he suffered when the whole of England blamed him for their loss in the 1998 World Cup.

Football’s golden boy got emotional as he recalled how he was abused, and even spat at by England fans after he lashed out at Diego Simeone, kicking his leg and getting a red card as a result during the World Cup match with Argentina.

David was only 23 when he became the target of country-wide hate and blame for losing the World Cup, with people alleging that he was distracted by his romance with Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, who had told him about her pregnancy the night before the match.

David got emotional as he recalled the bullying in his documentary, sharing: “I don't think I've ever talked about it because I can't.”

“I find it hard to talk about what I went through because it was so extreme. The whole country hated me.”

The football legend went on to reveal that the abuse got so bad, that he was afraid to go to the toilet as he would get abused on his way there.

“Wherever I went, I got abused every day.”

He detailed the abuse, which included people coming up to him and verbally abusing him, even going as far as spitting at him: “To walk down the street and see people look at you a certain way, spit at you, abuse you, come up to your face and say some of the things that they said, that's difficult.”

“I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping, I was a mess.”