5 of the most bizarre moments in World Cup history

#2 Kuwaiti prince invades the pitch and disallows the goal, World Cup 1982

Given Kuwait were already 3-1 behind against France when this incident happened, you’d have expected their fans – a handful of Kuwaiti royalty included – would’ve thrown the towel in by the time Alain Giresse apparently added a fourth goal. As the French players celebrated the goal, however, the Kuwaiti defenders began to protest.

Initially, it was thought that they were trying to claim Giresse was offside, but then it became clear that the players were trying to suggest that they’d stopped playing because they’d heard the sound of a whistle, apparently from the stands, that they’d confused as being the referee’s.

The official initially appeared to be unmoved – until Sheikh Fahad, a member of the Kuwaiti royal family, headed onto the pitch to remonstrate with him. And sure enough, with Kuwait’s players apparently ready to abandon the game, the goal was struck off, leaving the French players gobsmacked.

France went on to win the game 4-1 and so the incident didn’t really matter. Some 8 years later Sheikh Fahad invited France’s Michel Platini to Kuwait to apologise for his unethical behaviour. Unethical or not, he’d inadvertently provided the watching public with one of the World Cup’s all time bizarre moments.