10 Biggest FIFA World Cup Controversies
8. South Korea's 2002 World Cup Run
South Korea and Japan hosted the first World Cup of the new millennium in 2002 and both had surprisingly good runs in the competition. Japan topped a World Cup group for the first time in their country's history before eventually falling narrowly short against Turkey, however South Korea were the real surprise package.
The hosts topped a group containing Portugal, Poland and the United States with two wins and a draw, however things began to look a bit odd when they came up against the mighty Italy in the knockout stages. Despite boasting a side that contained the likes of Buffon, Maldini, Del Piero, Totti and Vieri, Italy found themselves on the wrong end of a suspicious penalty decision, numerous dodgy refereeing calls, an 88th minute equaliser and a golden goal instant elimination in extra time.
Flukey results can certainly happen in football, however South Korea raised even more eyebrows when they came up against another giant of a side in Spain in the next round. Again South Korea came up against a legendary team, and again the contentious decisions came flooding in. Spain had two goals ruled out contentiously and would eventually be knocked out via a penalty shootout, with Ivan Helguera having to be restrained from the officials afterwards. Speaking about the game, Helguera said:
"What happened here was robbery. Everyone saw two perfectly good goals. If Spain didn't win, it's because they didn't want us to win. I feel terrible about this game."