The Biggest On-Field Controversies To Come From The World Cup

The World Cup is an excellent chance for the billions of soccer fans to celebrate their favorite sport. However, as with any competition, it’s not without its controversies. From questionable goals to biased referees, it will be a rare time indeed when a World Cup happens without any drama.

Given there’s been over 20 tournaments in the past, each with dozens of games, we’ve seen a ton of contentious moments over the years. However, some have been a lot worse than others. So, we’ve narrowed down the biggest on-field controversies to come from the World Cup into six memorable highlights.

The 2010 World Cup final was one of the sport’s most violent matches

A 1-0 result might not seem that exciting for a World Cup final. However, even though this was the outcome of the 2010 competition, there’s no denying that the match was one of the most eventful in soccer history. In a matter of hours, a whopping 13 different players received cautions from the referee, with one being sent off. It seems things got pretty violent between Spain and the Netherlands, with Nigel De Jong even landing a flying high kick on Xabi Alonso. Although Spain emerged victorious, both teams were fined by FIFA afterward for their actions.

Zinedine Zidane ended his career with a World Cup final headbutt

Soccer has had many incredible players over the years, Zinedine Zidane undeniably being one of them. Unfortunately, while he achieved plenty of success throughout his career, he didn’t end things on the best note. That’s because his final game was the 2006 World Cup final, where France and Italy battled it out. Tensions were high, especially once the match went to extra time. Unfortunately, that resulted in Zinedine headbutting a player on the opposing team and being sent off. Not only did the move leave a bad taste in people’s mouths, but it might have cost France the victory. After all, the game went to penalties, and Zidane - who was excellent at these - was on the bench.

Germany and Austria upset millions by not bothering to play in 1982

People often refer to soccer as “the beautiful game.” However, we doubt many felt that way in 1982 when Germany and Austria played against one another in the World Cup group stages. After Germany scored a goal, both teams knew that they would progress forward in the competition if things stayed the same. So, rather than playing the game, they just passed the ball around for most of the match. It was a move that angered millions. The German commentator refused to talk about the game, while the Austrian announcer suggested people watch something else. Meanwhile, Algerian fans tried to storm the pitch, as their team’s position in the competition rested on the game’s result.

Luis Suárez bit a player during a 2014 World Cup match

People can get hurt in all sorts of ways while playing soccer. However, one thing that players don’t usually have to worry about is getting bitten. Unfortunately, it seems that several people were victims of this, thanks to Uruguay’s Luis Suárez. After biting Otman Bakkal and Branislav Ivanovic, the striker sunk his teeth into Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup. He was competing in the group stages against Italy when the incident occurred. Although commentators got a good view of the bite, the referee seemingly didn’t, as Suárez wasn’t punished for his actions during the game. However, he was later banned for four months by FIFA.

Prince Fahad of Kuwait convinced a referee to disallow a goal

Kuwait has only appeared in one World Cup competition so far, but they still managed to make an impression during that sole appearance. It was in their match against France that they caused quite a bit of controversy after Prince Fahad of Kuwait went to speak to the referee. This followed France’s fourth goal, which gave them a three-point lead over their competitors. The Prince ended up convincing the referee to disallow the goal over claims that Kuwait’s team had stopped playing because they thought they’d heard his whistle. However, this didn’t stop France from winning the match, with the referee banned afterward because of his controversial decision.

Maradona’s “Hand of God’ is perhaps soccer’s most controversial goal

England hasn’t had the best success at the World Cup, only winning one competition. They could have potentially achieved a second victory 20 years later, but Argentina put a stop to that with one of soccer’s most infamous moments. We’re referring to Maradona’s “Hand of God,” a goal that gave the South American team a 2-1 victory. The goal was controversial because many people argued that they saw the player score with his hand, a move that is against the rules. Maradona denied this, and the referee allowed the goal to be counted, a decision that plenty of England fans are still bitter about to this day.

Soccer has had many incredible moments over the years. However, for all the clutch goals and beautiful footwork, there are controversial incidents like these that occasionally spoil the fun.