10 Terrible Refereeing Decisions That Changed World Cup Games
3. South Korea Vs. Italy (2002)
South Korea have already appeared in this list but here they are again, with their successful 2002 run to the World Cup semi-finals being one of the most controversial stories in the history of the competition. The team's quarter final against Spain was littered with problems, but the clash against Italy in the round of 16 was even worse.
The first issue came after just five minutes of play, with South Korea being given a penalty for a very light foul on forward Seol Ki-Hyeon. Gianluigi Buffon saved the spot kick, but the ref continued to act in favour of the co-hosts. The South Koreans became increasingly aggressive over the course of the match, getting away with a number of fouls that would normally have warranted yellow or red cards.
In extra time, Italian midfielder Francesco Totti got sent off for diving in bizarre circumstances as the ref was miles away from the incident. Minutes later, Italy thought they'd won with Damiano Tommasi scoring what seemed to be a perfectly legal goal, but it was ruled out for offside. The South Koreans then won the game with a strike in the 118th minute, and even former FIFA president Sepp Blatter said that the referee had a terrible match.