The Ten Biggest Controversies in World Cup History

On the heels of what has to be considered the most controversial game of this year's Finals, here is my take on the top ten World Cup Finals controversies:

10. 2006 - U.S./Italy see red three times
It's too recent to go any higher and it's possible I'm just biased, but no less a figure than Franz Beckenbauer stated he believed the referees to be throwing out too many cards without warnings in the 2006 Cup. The tournament isn't over yet, but the apex of the movement appears to have come in the first-round game between the United States and Italy. When the heavily-favored Italians went down a man due to a thrown elbow by Daniele De Rossi into the face of American striker Brian McBride, it seemed as though the U.S. - already controlling the pace for most of the game - were in good position to take three points crucial to their advancement. Just prior to the end of the first half, however, midfielder Pablo Mastroeni was given a straight red card for showing his studs on a tackle, and two minutes into the second half, Eddie Pope received a second yellow card - and thus a red - for what most observers seemed to agree was a fairly conventional tackle (and one on which he played the ball, no less). Down to 9 men with nearly an entire half remaining, the U.S. were forced to hang on for the rest of the game, conjuring up only a couple of attacking chances and finishing with a draw that, while it left open the door for advancement, meant the Americans would be reliant on other results to move on. The three red cards in one match tied a World Cup record; only one match in the previous 50 years (Denmark vs. South Africa in 1998) had seen as many. It was subsequently revealed that the referee, Jorge Larrionda of Uruguay, had been suspended prior to the 2002 World Cup by his country's federation for supposed "irregularities," though these were not defined.

9. 1974 - West Germany defeats Poland in "Wasserschlacht"
In 1974 the Polish team was one of the strongest in the world and arguably among the two or three favorites to win the World Cup. They had taken gold at the Munich Olympics in 1972 and striker Grzegorz Lato ended up winning the '74 World Cup's golden boot with seven goals. With three wins in three games despite being drawn in a group with Argentina and Italy, the Poles seemed well on their way. Drawn into a second round group with the hosts, Poland defeated Sweden 1-0 and Yugoslavia 2-1, a Lato goal providing the difference in each game. The Poles were a quick, talented team, and it seemed like the Germans were going to have a very hard time defeating them in Frankfurt. Before the game, however, it rained heavily, turning the pitch at the Waldstadion into a waterlogged nightmare. The Poles pushed to have the game postponed, but the Germans refused and the match went on as scheduled. Their speed advantage negated, Poland could not muster a goal (at one point, a goal-bound shot died in a puddle in front of the German net), and Gerd Müller's goal in the 76th minute was enough for West Germany to win the game and the group. Poland went on to defeat Brazil in the third place game, the best result in their history (they later finished third again in 1982 but have escaped the group stages just once since), but if not for a soggy pitch in Frankfurt, it could have been more.

8. 1954 - The Miracle of Bern
In 1954 Hungary were the best side in the world. They had won Olympic gold in 1952, and came into the World Cup unbeaten in 29 straight international matches dating to 1950, a streak they ran to 33 (still a record) before running into West Germany in the final. The Germans were not, at the time, the world football power they are today, while Hungary's "Magnificent Magyars" were led by an attack force that included Ferenc Puskás (considered to be one of the greatest footballers of all time) and Sandor Kocsis, who won the golden boot at the '54 Cup. The Hungarians had defeated West Germany 8-3 in group play, and were certainly favored going into the final. Puskás and Zoltan Czibor both struck inside of ten minutes to stake Hungary to a 2-0 lead, but Max Morlock scored in the 10th minute and Helmut Rahn in the 18th to tie the game at 2. While it may have seemed to be heading for a 6-5 finish then, the match slowed down, and no one scored again until Rahn struck a second time in the 84th minute. The controversy came in the final minutes, with Hungary looking for an equalizer. Puskás scored in the 89th minute, but the goal was called back for offsides; seconds later, Kocsis went down in the penalty area but no foul was given. The whistle blew and the Germans were crowned champions; the distraught Hungarians were ushered off the pitch. While they would win two more Olympic gold medals (in 1964 and 1968), Hungary never again seriously contended at the World Cup.

7. 2002 - South Korea's home-field advantage
Shocking most experts, co-host nation South Korea not only won their group (pushing out favored Portugal with a 1-0 win in their third match) but marched all the way to the semifinals before finally being dispatched by eventual runners-up Germany. How they did it was the controversial part. Paired off with Italy in the round of 16, the Koreans won 2-1 thanks a golden goal by Ahn Jung-Hwan in the 117th minute. Prior to that, however, the Italians had been reduced to ten men when Francesco Totti was sent off with a second yellow for diving, and an Italian goal had been disallowed; many felt that replays showed both decisions to be incorrect. Had that been the only game seen as suspicious, it might have blown over, but South Korea found themselves up against Spain next, and they won 5-3 in a shootout after ending 120 minutes of scoreless play. However, Spain had two goals disallowed during the game, including one in extra time which would have won the contest, and both the Spanish and Italians grumbled about their results afterwards. The situation wasn't helped by FIFA's admission that the officiating in general was not quite up to par (which perhaps explains why they stood so adamantly behind the flurry of cards in the 2006 Cup). Korea's luck with officials continued in 2006, as France had a goal not given when a Patrick Vieira header appeared to cross the line, leading to a 1-1 draw.

6. 1978 - Argentina-born keeper lets in six
In the second round of the 1978 World Cup, the host nation Argentina found itself in a group with Brazil, Poland, and Peru. When Argentina and Peru met in the group's final game, Brazil had defeated Poland 3-1 to move into first place in the group (which would earn them a spot in the final against the Dutch). As Argentina and Brazil had drawn 0-0 in their earlier match, the hosts could move on only if they defeated Peru (who were well out of it by this time) and won the game by at least four goals, which was unlikely. Up until that point Argentina had scored just six goals in the whole tournament; Peru had allowed just six, thanks to the play of goalie Ramón Quiroga, including a 0-0 draw with eventual runners-up Holland. In this game, however, Quiroga saw six go past him, two in the first half and four more in the second. It transpired that Quiroga had actually been born in Argentina, which some felt may have accounted for his suddenly poor performance, but players on both sides vehemently denied any agreement to let Argentina win.

5. 1990 - The ugliest final
The 1990 World Cup is frequently regarded as one of the worst ever, as it featured a record low goals-per-game average and a then-record 16 red cards. The final saw a number of questionable decisions; both the West Germans and Argentinians, contesting the final, had a penalty denied them on what seemed like obvious fouls within the box, and the only goal of the game came on a German penalty kick in the 85th minute on a call much sketchier than either of the ones not given. Furthermore, Argentina had been reduced to nine men thanks to two red cards, giving the Germans a sizable advantage by the end of the game. No one had ever been sent off in a World Cup final before, nor had the losing team ever failed to score before. (Interestingly, no losing team has scored in a final since.)

4. 1934 - Mussolini exerts his influence
The 1934 World Cup was held in Italy, which was at the time controlled by the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. The Italians won the World Cup, which may or may not have been partly attributable to pressure put on the officials by Mussolini. Reports had the Swedish referee who officiated both Italy's semi-final match and the final game meeting with Il Duce prior to both of the matches. Many disputed decisions went Italy's way, and supposedly some of the officials who refereed Italian games ruled so favorably for Italy that they were suspended by their home nations after the World Cup. The Italians eventually proved their win was not entirely due to the home advantage by winning the 1938 World Cup held in France, but the belief that they had been handed the '34 trophy held.

3. 1982 - West Germany and Austria collaborate to deny Algeria
Algeria pulled one of the most shocking upsets in World Cup history in their first group match in 1982, stunning West Germany 2-1. After losing to Austria and beating Chile, the Algerians found themselves with four points but a goal differential of zero. Austria already had four points, while West Germany had just two. On June 25, the day after Algeria's final match with Chile, West Germany and Austria met in the last game of the group. Every potential scenario was already known. An Austrian win and Algeria and Austria would move on. If West Germany won by three or four goals, they and Algeria would move on. A draw would not be good enough for the Germans; they needed to win. But if they won by too much, Austria would be out. When Horst Hrubesch scored in the 10th minute to put West Germany up 1-0, fans thought they might be in for a repeat of the teams' match in 1978, an exciting game won 3-2 by Austria. But after scoring, the Germans simply stopped attacking, and the Austrians didn't start. Despite furious jeering from the Spanish crowd, the teams kicked the ball around for 80 minutes, giving West Germany the 1-0 win and advancing both teams at Algeria's expense. The result of this embarrassing performance was FIFA's subsequent rule that the last two matches in every group must be played simultaneously, to avoid having one or more teams change their play based on other results.

2. 1966 - They Think It's All Over
The 1966 World Cup, still the only World Cup won by footballing giant England, had probably the most controversial final game on record. Facing off against West Germany at Wembley, the English went up 2-1 in the 78th minute, only to see the Germans, attacking like crazy, score in the 90th minute to send the contest to extra time. Shortly before the end of the first half of extra time, Geoff Hurst struck Alan Ball's cross towards goal. The ball hit the underside of the crossbar, then bounced down to the goal line, and then was cleared by the Germans. Unsure of whether or not to give the goal, referee Gottfried Dienst consulted linesman Tofik Bakhramov, who was in good position. Bakhramov said that the ball had crossed the line, Dienst gave the goal, and German fans everywhere were furious (any similar goal is now sarcastically called a "Wembley-Tor," or Wembley goal, by some Germans). Just before the end of extra time, Hurst struck again, this time as England fans began spilling onto the pitch to celebrate, mistakenly thinking the game had already been whistled over. This led to Kenneth Wolstenholme's famous call, "Some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over... it is now!" Some have argued that this goal should not have been counted either due to the pitch invasion, although it's hard to believe that West Germany would have had the time to score anyway by that point. In 1995, a group of Oxford researchers used computer analysis to enhance television footage and declared that Hurst's first extra-time goal (his second of the game) had not actually crossed the line in full.

1. 1986 - Maradona's "Hand of God"
If England had gotten the favorable part of a referee's judgment in 1966, two decades later they gave back as much as they had taken. The English met Diego Maradona's Argentina in a quarterfinal match at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium. The game was scoreless at halftime, but in the second half the match was taken over by the mercurial Maradona. His second goal, scored in the 56th minute to put Argentina up 2-0, was named "Goal of the Century" by FIFA in 2002, as he dribbled past five England defenders and keeper Peter Shilton. The irony of this is that his first goal was so shockingly illegitimate. As the ball bounced high in the air towards Shilton, Maradona leapt towards it - and punched the ball with his fist over Shilton and into the English goal. It all happened so fast that many did not realize what had happened, including Shilton and certainly including the referee, who gave the goal. Maradona gave the goal its name in the postgame press conference, as he declared that the goal had been scored partially due to "the hand of God" and partially due to "the head of Maradona." In his 2002 autobiography, and again on his television show in 2005, Maradona copped to the handball, admitting that he knew all along the goal was illegitimate and that he told his teammates to gather around him quickly or the referee would figure out not to allow it. Gary Lineker, who scored the only English goal in the game, told Maradona in 2006 that he blamed the officials for not seeing the handball, and not Maradona himself. Nevertheless, Maradona has been vilified by a generation of English fans, and his infamous goal helped inflame a rivalry that had already caught fire politically thanks to the Falkland Islands War (at one point Maradona used England's victory in the war to defend his stolen goal) and has since boiled over on the pitch, thanks in no small part not just to the 1986 clash but to subsequent meetings in 1998 and 2002 which it helped inform.