Qatar 2022: The Six Most Controversial World Cup Scandals

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 came to an end last Sunday. Argentina, a Latin American country, has established itself as the Champion. Everything is filled with joy and celebration. Both, in the country, and in all those lands that make up Latin America, it’s a big thing.

However, scandals and moments of tension were also experienced during the almost entire month that the World Cup lasted. Here are the details of those 6 moments:

The anger of Cristiano Ronaldo’s wife with the Portugal coach

Georgina Rodríguez, girlfriend of the Portugal team player, Cristiano Ronaldo, got mad with Fernando Santos, the Portuguese coach. After Santos left Ronaldo on the bench in the game in which Portugal was eliminated from the World Cup, Georgina didn’t hesitate to show her anger on social media.

“Today your friend and coach decided badly. That friend for whom you have so many words of admiration and respect. The same as when he put you in the game, he saw how everything changed, but it was too late. You cannot underestimate the best player in the world, his most powerful weapon,” said Rodríguez.

And she continued: “You can’t show your face for someone who doesn’t deserve it either. Life gives us lessons. Today we have not lost, we have learned. We love you.” After Portugal was beaten by Morocco and left out of the World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo left the playing field crying inconsolably.

Empty field: the Qataris did not support their team

During the opening ceremony, there were more than 60 thousand people in the “Al Bayt Stadium.” The grandstand seemed black and white due to the clothing worn by Qatari men (white) and women (black). Only three rows of seats appeared to have other colours, with people dressed in yellow, fans of Ecuador, the team against which the local country played.

But, after the first 10 minutes of the second half of the match had gone by and Ecuador was leading Qatar by 2-0, more than 70 percent of the Qatari public left the pitch. Even though some Qataris stayed until the aftermatch, they stated to the press: “We are not happy with the team’s performance.”

Ghanaian fans’ derision against Luis Suárez after his elimination

Uruguayan player Luis Suárez was very sad after his team was eliminated from the World Cup in Qatar. However, this didn’t stop Ghana fans from making fun of the striker in particular.

Behind that scene there is a story that began in the 2010 World Cup, when Suárez became his main enemy. The Uruguayan stopped a key ball with his hands in the definition that the two soccer teams starred in.

While Suárez left the field very affected and was captured by the stadium screens, the fans of the African team screamed “Korea, Korea, Korea,” the team that moved on the round of 16.

Ball against & 14 yellow cards in one match 

The quarterfinal match of the World Cup between Argentina and the Netherlands was filled with tension. Argentina was leading 2-1 when one of their players, Leandro Paredes, committed a foul. He then kicked the ball furiously, which went straight to the opponent’s substitute bench. With less than five minutes left to meet regular time, this brawl sparked a strong discussion between the teams on the field, with shoving and shouting.

In that same match, the referee drew 14 yellow cards: eight for the Argentines and six for Netherlands. Moreover, he expelled Denzel Dumfries after his second warning. It was applied in the middle of a penalty shootout, for bothering an Argentinian player.

Messi’s “Topo Gigio”

Another tense moment in the World Cup was carried out by Argentinian Lionel Messi. The player, considered the best in the world, got angry with the coach Louis Van Gaal, who had previously said that Lionel “did not touch the ball” in the 2014 World Cup semifinal. In Qatar, the Argentine scored the penalty goal and, challenging the opponent’s coach, he made the “Topo Gigio” gesture in front of the Dutch substitute bench.

Messi went straight to Van Gaal and made it to his face, doing signs with one hand like those that indicate that he “talks a lot.” Van Gaal was in shock. Finally, someone from the Argentine coaching staff arrived and took Messi away. The Dutch coach had stated: “Messi doesn’t play much when the opponent has possession of the ball. His team plays with 10.”

“Qué miras, bobo?” (What are you looking at, fool?)

Lionel Messi was giving an interview, when Wout Werghorst, the Dutch player who scored two goals against Argentina but didn’t manage to beat them, looked at the Argentine player in a provocative way.

“What are you looking at, fool? Fool! Go there, fool. Go over there (“¿Qué mirás, bobo? ¡Bobo! Andá para allá, bobo. Andá para allá”),” Messi told Werghorst. Later, the Argentine explained the origin of his attack: “Since he entered, he began to provoke us, and it seems to me that this is not part of football.”