Korea and Japan 2002: Spain's two disallowed goals, Ronaldo's redemption and France's goalless exit
- Spain suffered the annulment of two goals during the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, refereeing decisions that marked their participation in the tournament
- Ronaldo achieved his redemption in the 2002 World Cup, standing out as a key figure in his national team's performance during the competition
- France was eliminated from the tournament without scoring any goals, resulting in a disappointing participation for the defending champion
For a Spanish fan, 2002 is the World Cup of the robbery. It's worth telling the whole story with the facts, because there's far more to it than usually gets summed up in one sentence.
🇰🇷🇯🇵 The 2002 World Cup by the numbers
- Host nations
- South Korea and Japan
- Teams
- 32
- Champions
- 🏆 Brazil
- Runners-up
- Germany
- Final
- Brazil 2-0 Germany
- Stadium
- International Stadium Yokohama · Yokohama
- Attendance
- 69,029
- Top scorer
- Ronaldo (Brazil), 8 goals
Spain vs South Korea
22 June 2002, quarter-final in Gwangju. Spain had won all three of their group matches and came in having knocked out Ireland on penalties. They faced the hosts, who had already sent home Portugal and Italy.
The match ended 0-0 and Spain went out on penalties. But along the way two goals were ruled out:
The first, a goal from Rubén Baraja disallowed for a non-existent foul. And the second, the one that really hurts: a cross from Joaquín that the linesman flagged as out of play, which Fernando Morientes finished into the goal. Television replays show that the ball hadn't gone out.
The referee was Egyptian Gamal Al-Ghandour. Neither he nor his assistants ever refereed another high-level international match after that tournament.
The other side of the story
Now the other part, because otherwise this is just propaganda instead of history.
That South Korea side wasn't a bad team. They were managed by Guus Hiddink, had been in full-time concentration for months with absolutely brutal physical preparation, and won their group ahead of Portugal playing good football. In the round of 16 they beat Italy with a goal in extra time. And against Spain they held firm for 120 minutes without conceding a legitimate goal.
That the refereeing was dreadful is a fact. That South Korea only reached the semifinals because of that, it isn't.
France exits without a goal
The world and European champions arrived as overwhelming favourites and pulled off the tournament's biggest shock: they lost 1-0 to Senegal in the opening match — a country making their debut and a former French colony — drew with Uruguay and lost to Denmark.
Three matches, zero goals scored, knocked out. Zidane arrived injured and could only play in the last one. Senegal, by the way, reached the quarter-finals.
Argentina also crashed out in the group stage. It was a World Cup full of dead legends.
Ronaldo's redemption
And amid all that, the best story: Ronaldo. He was coming off three years practically out of action because of two serious knee injuries, following what happened to him in the 1998 final. Plenty of people figured he'd never be the same again.
He scored eight goals, including both in the final, and was top scorer and player of the tournament. He also showed up with an absolutely ridiculous haircut — head shaved with a triangular fringe down the middle — which he explained years later: he wanted the press talking about the hair and stop asking him about his leg.
That FIFA or the organisers fixed South Korea's matches against Italy and Spain so the hosts would go far.
That the decisions were scandalously bad and nobody serious disputes that, but there's no actual evidence of corruption: no investigation with findings, no sanctions, no documents. What feeds the legend are two circumstantial things: the referees involved vanished from international football, and Ecuadorian Byron Moreno, the one from Italy-Korea, ended up years later convicted in the United States for drug trafficking — a case completely unrelated to football, but one people use as if it were the missing smoking gun. Poor refereeing doesn't prove match-fixing, and what we've got here is just abysmal refereeing.
That the team was mediocre and without help they wouldn't have made it past the group stage.
That it's unfair to a team that won their group ahead of Portugal playing good football, managed by Guus Hiddink, with fitness levels well above their rivals and months of full-time preparation. The refereeing in the round of 16 and quarter-finals was decisive, yes. But reducing it all to that is the convenient excuse: Spain also owes some explanations for not scoring in 120 minutes.
That it was pure extravagance, or a lost bet.
That he explained it himself: it was a smokescreen. He was carrying a leg problem and wanted the Brazilian press to talk about something else. It worked so well that haircut got copied in barber shops around the world and it's still remembered. He's even said he's embarrassed to see pictures of it.
What remained
Brazil claimed their fifth World Cup and remain the country with the most titles. Germany lost a final in which Oliver Kahn, their goalkeeper, was named the tournament's best player: he's the only goalkeeper ever to win the World Cup Golden Ball, and he did it on the day he made the error that cost the opening goal.
And it proved that football was no longer just the business of Europe and South America: Korea in the semis, Senegal and Turkey in the quarters — the Turks finished third — and the fastest goal in World Cup history, Hakan Şükür's at 11 seconds in the third-place playoff.
- On Korea's refereeing: here we separate what's indisputable (very bad and decisive decisions) from what was never proved (that corruption took place).
- Photo note: match material belongs to agencies. Images are public domain or Creative Commons.
