10 Terrible Refereeing Decisions That Changed World Cup Games

10. USA Vs. Slovenia (2010)

The United States were one of 2010's surprise packages, managing to narrowly win Group C ahead of England. Both teams earned five points from their fixtures and had the same goal difference, but the US earned top spot due to their superior tally of goals scored.

They could, however, have won the group outright on points if this terrible decision hadn't stood. It occurred in the US' second group game against Slovenia. The match was tied 2-2 and the US had won a free kick in a promising position in the 85th minute. American legend Landon Donovan whipped in a great delivery and substitute Maurice Edu smashed it home, but the referee had blown his whistle just a fraction of a second earlier and the goal didn't stand.

On the replays, however, no fans or commentators could understand what the ref, Koman Coulibaly, had allegedly seen. If anything, replays showed lots of Slovenian players grappling their US counterparts and a penalty should probably have been awarded to the Americans. Koulibaly was not selected to referee another game at the tournament.