World Cup History: Biggest Controversies

Ghost Goal

In 1966, England was determined to win the World Cup. Nevertheless, Franz Beckenbauer and West Germany were the betting online favorites to win the Grand Finale. Let’s not forget that some people considered Beckenbauer to be among the 10 best players in history.

Beckenbauer and company put up a good fight, but the host had an ace up its sleeve: the referees. After a 2-2 draw in regular time, the Three Lions regained the advantage during overtime thanks to Geoff Hurst, who scored in the 101st minute.

Actually … he didn’t. The ball never went in, but the referees awarded a goal. All English soccer enthusiasts, including the Queen, were extremely happy. England ended up winning 4-2, but without a doubt it was that third goal that undermined the Germans.

Positive Test, Negative Result

In 1994, Diego Maradona was considered one of the best players in the world. He was one of the main reasons for Argentina to be among the soccer betting favorites to win the title in the USA. Eight years prior, Maradona led Argentina to the championship in Mexico. In 1990, he led La Albiceleste to the Grand Finale once again, but they ended up losing 1-0 to Germany.

Maradona helped Argentina to win its first two games of the 1994 edition, 4-0 over Greece and 2-1 over Nigeria, but that was it. He tested positive for drugs and his WC career came to an end. After that, Argentina lost 2-0 to Bulgaria and was eliminated.

Head Butt

Zinedine Zidane was always considered a gentleman, on and off the field, but even a gentleman can lose his temper. That was precisely what happened during the 2006 final between France and Italy.

France went ahead thanks to Zidane, who scored from the penalty spot seven minutes into the game. Nevertheless, Italy evened the score eight minutes later thanks to Marco Materazzi. The game finished 1-1, but Materazzi wasn’t done. During overtime, he began to annoy Zidane with all kinds of comments. According to Zidane, the Italian defender insulted his family, prompting the veteran midfielder to turn and head-butt Materazzi in the chest. The referee saw Zidane and sent him off.

France still put up a good fight but ended up losing in penalties. As for Materazzi, he hasn’t been forgiven by many people, me included.

Goal-Fest

Argentina has won the World Cup twice. The first was in 1978 with Mario Kempes leading the way. The controversy began in the final match of Group B. La Albiceleste had to beat Peru by at least four goals to get into the final. Otherwise, Brazil would get the ticket. Argentina ended up winning 6-0 after a disastrous performance from Peru goalkeeper Ramon Quiroga, who, coincidentally, was born in Argentina.

The controversy continued in the Grand Finale, in which Argentina faced the Netherlands. The visitors were forced to take an extra-long route to the stadium, which caused an increase in anxiety. Later, prior to the start of the match, Argentina spent 10 extra minutes in the locker room to let the Dutch side face the fans and the hostile environment all alone. La Albiceleste ended up winning 3-1 in overtime.

Help!

In 2002, South Korea rewrote history by becoming the first Asian team to reach the WC semifinals, in which they lost 1-0 to Germany. The thing is that the Tigers of Asia got a lot of help from the referees to get there.

In the Round of 16, South Korea defeated Italy 2-1 after referee Byron Moreno disallowed an Italian goal and sent off Francesco Totti. In the Round of 8, they defeated Spain on penalties. During regulation and overtime, the referee Gamal Al-Ghandour disallowed two Spanish goals and his linemen judged one Spanish attack after another to be offside.