World Cup controversies

Chile 1962

What was called the "Battle of Santiago" was a brutal match, but only the losing team was punished by the referee

England 1966

This was described as "not a match but an international incident". Among other things, a player on the losing team was sent off for "violence of the tongue", even when the referee couldn't understand him

England 1966

The winning goal never crossed the line

Argentina 1978

The winning team needed to get a 4 goal difference to get to the final. A suspiciously weak performance by the losing team allowed them to win 6-0

Spain 1982

These two teams agreed not to attempt any shots in order to eliminate Algeria

Spain 1982

The keeper of the winning team commited a brutal foul, but a goal kick was given

Mexico 1986

A goal was famously scored with the "hand of God"

Italy 1990

There is still debate on whether the penalty on the final match was a foul; the player who took it said it wasn't

USA 1994

An elbow to the face inside the penalty area broke the nose of a player from the losing team, but the referee was not looking

Korea/Japan 2002

The losing team had a valid goal disallowed for offside and a player unfairly sent off by a future drug smuggler

Korea/Japan 2002

The losing team had two valid goals disallowed for obscure reasons

South Africa 2010

The exact opposite of what happened in 1966

Brazil 2014

The match was decided by a last minute penalty, which the losing team still claim was unfair

Brazil 2014

A player on the winning team bit an opponent, but he was not sent off

2022

It seems that this country got to host the World Cup through bribery