5 of the most bizarre moments in World Cup history

#5 Graham Poll books Josip Simunic three times in the same game, World Cup 2006

England’s 2006 World Cup didn’t go perfectly – they were eliminated by Portugal in the quarter-finals – but it still went better than their refereeing equivalent, Premier League official Graham Poll. He provided the World Cup with an all-time classic bizarre moment by somehow booking the same player – Croatia’s Josip Simunic – three times during a group game with Australia.

Firstly, Poll issued Simunic his first yellow card for a foul on Harry Kewell in the 61st minute. The game was already threatening to descend into chaos when both Brett Emerton of Australia and Croatia’s Dario Simic were sent off with minutes to go, but nobody could’ve predicted what happened next.

Initially, Simunic was shown his second yellow card in the 90th minute – but somehow wasn’t sent off, and when Tim Cahill appeared to have scored a winner for Australia, Simunic went crazy and angrily confronted Poll. Cahill’s goal was struck off as Poll had already blown for full time, but Simunic’s reaction earned him a third yellow – and thus finally, a red card.

When the error came to light, Poll was naturally mortified – even more so when FIFA decided to send him home from the tournament after the group stage had ended.

His explanation for the incident? He’d incorrectly noted down Australia’s Craig Moore for the second booking, likely due to Simunic’s Australian accent. Realistically it was just a huge error and it signalled the end of Poll’s career as an international referee.