The 5 most unsporting moments in World Cup history

#3: Suarez’s handball and celebration, World Cup 2010

Despite the legendary Pele predicting that a team from Africa would win the World Cup by 2000, by the time the 19th iteration of the tournament rolled around in 2010, the best any African team had done was reach the quarter-finals.

But in 2010, Ghana were looking to change all of that by reaching the semi-finals – in the first tournament on African soil, too.

With their quarter-final against Uruguay all tied up at 1-1, the game went to extra-time, and with Ghana pushing for the killer second goal with seconds remaining, a goalmouth scramble ensued which ended when Uruguayan star striker Luis Suarez blatantly handled Dominic Adiyah’s shot and prevented it hitting the back of the net.

Despite claiming the move was instinctual, Suarez was rightly sent off and left the field on the verge of tears. Ghana had a penalty and it seemed like a given that the outstanding Asamoah Gyan would score.

But the pressure caused him to buckle and his shot wildly struck the bar rather than the back of the net.

If Suarez’s handball was simply the act of someone desperate to win, his next act was that of a disgustingly poor sportsman.

On the edge of the dugout, Suarez realized Gyan had missed and sprinted around celebrating as if he’d won the World Cup itself.

Sure, he’d probably saved Uruguay’s World Cup hopes – but he’d done it illegally and celebrating it like that made him one of the game’s biggest villains.

Showing football doesn’t always reward karma, Uruguay went on to win a penalty shoot-out, breaking the hearts of not only African football fans, but fans of good sportsmanship all over the world.