Controversies at the FIFA World Cup have become the talking points over the years. From Zinedine Zidane's head-butt to Luis Suarez's biting incident, World Cup has witnessed some of the top controversial moments in the rich history of football.
Here's a look at the top contentious moments that have rocked the quadrennial showpiece in the last four World Cups.
2014 -- SUAREZ BITES CHIELLINI
Fresh from scoring two goals to help his team beat England 2-1 in a group match Uruguay needed to win, Luis Suarez was expected to play a prominent role against Italy to spearhead his team's advancement to the round of 16.
He did play a leading role -- only not in the way most had anticipated.
Toward the end of the match, Suarez inexplicably bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder following a tussle in the penalty area. The referee didn't see the incident, which proved costly for the Azzurri because Uruguay soon scored the only goal of the match.
Suarez faced severe retrospective action. He was suspended from all football-related activity for four months, slapped with a nine-match international ban and given a big fine.
Suarez wasn't new to biting. This was his third offence on the field following previous incidents for Ajax and Liverpool. Suarez's bad habit didn't put off Barcelona, who weeks later bought the striker from Liverpool for about $130 million.
2010 -- NOT HAND OF GOD
In the last minute of extra time in a hard-fought 2010 quarter-final match between Uruguay and Ghana, Luis Suarez was sent off after he used his hands to keep out Dominic Adiyiah's goal-bound header. Asamoah Gyan hit the bar on the ensuing penalty, and Suarez was shown celebrating on the sideline.
Ghana went on to lose the penalty shootout, thereby failing to become Africa's first semi-finalist as the continent staged its first World Cup.
2006 -- ZINDANE'S HEAD-BUTT STEALS ITALY'S THUNDER
Zinedine Zindane's head-butt in the final of the 2006 World Cup between France and Italy overshadowed the Azzurri's title triumph. The legendary France striker head-butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi when the scores were locked at 1-1 in the extra-time.
Zidane was red carded soon after and Materazzi and his side went on to win the final 5-3 via the penalty shootout. Media reports suggested that Materazzi had insulted the French captain's mother but the Italian insisted it wasn't so.
The incident is believed to have cost Zidane the chance to bag the golden ball.
2006 -- ONE PLAYER, THREE YELLOW CARDS
In one of the biggest refereeing goof-ups, English referee Graham Poll booked the same player three times in a league match between Croatia and Australia.
The player in question here is Croatia's Josip Simunic. He was shown his first yellow card in the 61st minute for a foul on Harry Kewell.
Moments later, Poll again booked Simunic in the 91st minute but did not send him off as he failed to keep a note of it. Two yellow cards are equal to one red card meaning a player cannot continue to carry on in the match and the team is reduced to 10 players.
However, two more minutes later Simunic got his third yellow and this time Poll sent him off leaving Croatia one man short
2002 -- HOSTS SOUTH KOREA INVOLVED IN MATCH FIXING
The World Cup co-hosts South Korea were helped by referees as they advanced to the semi-finals of the sporting spectacle.
En route to semi-finals, South Korea knocked Italy out in the last-16 before stunning Spain in the quarter-finals.
However, their charge was halted when runners-up Germany ended South Korea's dream run with a 1-0 win.
The referees of the matches against Italy and Spain were found guilty of match-fixing and were forced to retire after the tournament.
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