5 instances of bad refereeing influencing the outcome of a game

#3 England vs. Argentina, World Cup 1986 and 1998

Poor refereeing decisions cost England twice in the World Cup against their heated rivals Argentina, with the Three Lions being knocked out unjustly on both occasions. Firstly came the infamous ‘Hand of God’ incident in the quarter-finals in 1986 – Diego Maradona clearly handled the ball into the net for his first goal, but the referee didn’t spot it and allowed the goal to stand.

If he had spotted it then Maradona surely would’ve been shown a red card and never would’ve scored his legendary second goal – and England likely would’ve won the match and gone on to the semi-finals. Eight years later, they were looking for payback, but again ended up on the plane home largely thanks to a bad refereeing call.

This time it was an England goal that was disallowed – with the game deadlocked at 2-2 and heading into extra-time, Sol Campbell headed a corner home, only for the referee to deny the goal as he felt wrong that Alan Shearer had impeded Argentine goalkeeper Carlos Roa.

It was a painfully unfair decision that still stings with England fans two decades on – and even a win over Argentina in the 2002 tournament couldn’t erase the feeling of injustice that these two refereeing decisions caused.