Welcome back, well the World Cup is over and England are the 4th best team in the world! In an effort to re-live some of the great moments of the past month we have continued with our controversial and dirty World Cup moments with some honourable mentions, make sure to check out part 1 here if you haven’t already. Lets crack on!
The Final Everyone Wanted
France 1998
France V Brazil
In 1998 France won the World Cup as the host nation, beating Brazil in, what was described as a dream final, presumably only by the French and Brazilians. However, in 2018 Mitchel Platini the former UEFA president astonishingly remarked that “a little trickery” was used in the draw to make sure France and Brazil avoided each other until the final. There may be further developments still to come, but once again FIFA will face corruption allegations.
The most controversial World Cup in modern times
2002 South Korea/Japan
South Korea V Italy R16
South Korea V Spain QF
This controversy wasn’t just over one game but the whole tournament. The World Cup was being hosted in South Korea/Japan, throughout the tournament South Korea had been getting some excellent results, however, there were questions being asked about South Korea getting favourable decisions from referees. This all came to a head in the Quarter Final V Italy. South Korea went through 2-1 due to a litany of errors from the referee which included sending Totti off for diving, disallowing a perfectly good Italian goal and letting South Korean fouls go unpunished. The media in Italy were outraged and Spain would be the next victims having 2 good goals disallowed and being knocked out on penalties. South Korea were eventually eliminated in the semi finals by Germany. This is still a contested subject with many believing the matches were fixed.
The Disgrace of Gijon
1982 Spain
West Germany v Austria
The final group game in group 2 is between West Germany and Austria and both teams know that a West Germany win by 1 or 2 goals will see both teams through the group at the expense of Algeria and Chile who had played the day before. What then happened was 90 minutes of nothing, West Germany took the lead and as this result suited both teams, they just passed the ball around without trying to score. After this it was decided that all final group matches should be played at the same time to try and avoid this sort of thing.
Roberto Rojas’ Looks To Steal Place At World Cup
1990 World Cup Qualifier
Chile V Brazil
Not strictly at the World Cup finals, but this qualifier was so ridiculous we had to include it. Going into the game against Brazil, in Brazil, Chile knew that only a win would see them qualify for the World Cup. Losing 1-0 with 20 minutes remaining Chilean goalkeeper Roberto Rojas collapsed with blood all over his face and a flare laid next to him. The match was abandoned and Chile protested they should be brought into the World Cup. However, photos then emerged that the flare in question didn’t hit Rojas, who later admitted he had razor blades hidden in his gloves to inflict the injuries. The plan was dreamed up in the Chilean training camp prior to the match thinking they had no chance of actually winning the match. Rojas was given a life ban from professional football by FIFA.
And that wraps up our World Cup dirtiest moments series. Overall we had a fairly clean tournament, was this down to the introduction of VAR? Let us know your thoughts!