Luis Suarez’s infamous handball against Ghana at the 2010 FIFA World Cup is one of the few moments in football history to have divided opinion.
More than a decade later, the controversial incident remains fresh in everyone’s memory and continues to spark debate over sportsmanship and the lengths athletes should go to in pursuit of victory.
The fiasco unfolded like a movie on July 2, 2010, in Johannesburg. Ghana and Uruguay were battling hard for the winner, locked at 1-1, in a tense World Cup quarter-final that went to extra time. With time running out and a place in the semifinals at stake, Ghana attempted one final attack. It led to a goalmouth scramble, and Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera was beaten, and it looked like Ghana scored the winner.
But there he was, Suarez, standing on the goal line. He instinctively raised both hands and blocked the effort, preventing what would have almost certainly been the winning goal.
Suarez was shown a red card and sent off. The referee had little choice but to award Ghana a penalty. But then what happened next changed a simple goal-line foul into one of the most controversial moments in World Cup history.
As Suarez left the pitch, Asamoah Gyan stepped up to take Ghana’s penalty and take them into the semifinals. If they had reached the semis, they would have become the first African country to do so in World Cup history. But instead, his penalty hit the crossbar and bounced away. Uruguay managed to survive, and the match went to a penalty shootout, which they won 4-2, shattering Ghana’s dream.
The aftermath was immediate and highly critical of Suarez. Across Africa and much of the footballing world, he was portrayed as a villain who denied Ghana a historic achievement through cheating. Meanwhile, he was also seen celebrating Gyan’s miss, which further added to the drama.
‘I don’t apologise about that’: Luis Suarez
Also, he never apologised, stating that he did what any player would do in the same situation. Speaking during a press conference in Doha in 2022, Suarez said, “I don’t apologise about that, I did the handball, but the Ghana player missed the penalty, not me.”
“I could apologise if I injured a player with a tackle and got a red card, but in this situation I take a red card and the referee says penalty.
“It’s not my fault, I didn’t miss the penalty. The player who missed the penalty said he would do the same [as I did] in that situation. It’s not my responsibility in this situation,” he added.
But the argument remains: was Suarez guilty of an unforgivable act of unsporting behaviour,, or was he merely exploiting loopholes in the laws of the game?
For Ghana, the moment remains one of football’s great heartbreaks. For Uruguay, it is remembered as a desperate act of sacrifice that kept their World Cup campaign alive.