Every World Cup always brings along hype, festivities & legacies. However, World Cup history has also seen many controversies. Be it foul plays or acts of violence, the football pitch has seen it all.
Read all about it below!
Uruguay won the semi-final match against Yugoslavia by 6-1.
However, the authenticity of their win has been speculated as the second goal was supposedly made after a policeman had kicked the ball back into the pitch in favour of the host country's team.
A match that saw Argentina beat Peru with a score of 6-0 was under much speculation as it was considered fixed. The suspicion grew further as the goalkeeper from the Peruvian team side was Argentine-born.
Years later, former Peruvian senator Genaro Ledesma accepted that the match was rigged, blaming it on the political dictators of both countries at the time.
This incident is popularly known as 'The hand of God'. Maradona had used his hand to score a goal against England when playing the quarter-final match of the tournament.
While the English contested the act, the referee did not deny the goal, eventually taking Argentina to the winning podium.
An icon of his time, Diego Maradona stirred up a storm in the public eye when he tested positive for having consumed a banned substance named ephedrine.
This led to him being removed from the 1994 tournament and not playing for Argentina ever again.
Multiple matches South Korea won in the tournament were speculated to be fixed. In a match against Italy, South Korea won with a score of 2-1 as one of the goals by the Italian team was disallowed by referee Byron Moreno.
In the following match, South Korea won against Spain as Egyptian referee Gamal Al-Ghandour did not allow two Spanish goals considered legal.
Not long after the tournament, both referees were made to retire due to being involved in match-fixing and bribery.
Graham Poll mistakenly pulled out the yellow card thrice on Croatian player Josip Simunic in a match against Australia. Finally, in the 93rd minute of the match, he gave him a red card for a foul act.
Although a mistake, the incident led to Graham Poll getting sent back home and never refereeing a World Cup match again.
A controversy that has not left the spotlight just yet is the not-so-fondly remembered incident of Zinedine Zidane headbutting Marco Metrazzi during the FIFA 2006 World Cup final.
The action was claimed to be a retaliation to a personal family remark made by the Italian player.
In the quarter-final match of the tournament, Uruguay was confronting Ghana. While Ghana was about to score their shot, Luis Suarez used his hands in a handball fashion to prevent the goal.
Uruguay eventually won the match as Ghana could not benefit from the penalty; however, Luis was sent off the pitch with a red card.
At the 2010 World Cup finals, a moment was created that will never be forgotten. The finals saw a confrontation between the Netherlands vs Spain. It was remembered for a moment when Nigel de Jong kicked Spanish player Xabi Alonso in the chest.
The Dutch player was surprisingly not sent away, and he also defended the act as an unintentional innocent one as his eyes were on the ball and Xabi was in his blind spot.
In the final group match of the 2014 tournament, Uruguay needed to beat Italy to proceed. The 79th-minute match saw players Luis and Giorgio clash, showcasing that Luis had bitten Giorgio to prevent a goal.
Although Uruguay won the match, Luis was banned from 9 international matches, which meant no more World Cups for him.
Sources: The Gentlemans Journal / bleacher report / the culture trip / as.com / dailymail.co.uk / Sporting news
Cover image credit: soccerinmymind.com
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