The 5 Biggest Feuds In FIFA World Cup History

Football is known as a sport with a lot of tension on the field. For the ultimate victory, many players seem to be aggressive in every situation. And as a result, the opponents will disrespectfully react back when they are constantly given fouls.
When it comes to World Cup, that kind of tension will even come to the next level. Because players not only play for their team but also for their country. Sometimes, people can feel the heat on the field and know the battle will come soon, and it did happen so many times in the past, causing the biggest feuds and rivalries in World Cup history. Still, these might include the players, coaches, referees, and national team or even governing bodies of the sport. Amazingly, the drama might also come from the locker room of a national team.
Today, we’ve compiled a list of the 5 biggest feuds in FIFA World Cup history. Let’s scroll down and check them out!

#1 Nicolas Anelka vs Raymond Domenech

Source: sportingnews

France's World Cup campaign in 2010 will be a shame, not only due to the result but also the drama between Nicolas Anelka and his coach Raymond Domenech. After a tactical disagreement during the halftime of the game against Mexico, Nicolas Anelka’s spat with Raymond Domenech escalated into a serious catastrophe when Anelka told Domenech to 'go f*** yourself you son of a w****' during the dressing-room row, according to the French newspaper L'Equipe.
France’s national team couldn’t make it through to the group stage. And the French Federation banned Anelka from playing for France. He claimed the ban is a joke as he already decided to retire from the national team.
'I was frustrated going into the locker room. I was thinking to myself “I’m not getting the ball, I’m not finding a solution. We’re playing badly, it’s 0-0 and we still haven’t scored”.'All of a sudden, the coach came in and called me out by name. When he called out my name with all that pent-up frustration it just came out because I didn’t like it. I didn’t like that he called me out by name as if I were guilty as if it were all my fault, Anelka said to the Dailymail.

#2 Zinedine Zidane vs Marco Materazzi

Source: goal

Zinedine Zidane, one of the biggest football stars at that time, carried the hope of the Les Blues. However, in the 2006 World Cup final against Italy, the man that landed three FIFA World Player of the Year awards and a Ballon d’Or head-butted Materazzi, which brought him nothing but a direct red card. This also became an iconic image around the world.Zidane is called into question about the incident and has refused to apologize, though, he thought that he deserved to be sent off.

#3 Roy Keane vs Mick McCarthy

Source: mappingmemories

Back in 2002, an argument between Ireland captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy in Saipan resulted in Keane leaving before the World Cup. McCarthy told a press conference the next day he would not tolerate “the level of abuse that thrown at me.”
On the tournament, Keane, then 30, gave a concussive interview in which he critiqued his team’s preparation, culminating in an atrocious head-to-head with McCarthy in which the Manchester United midfielder didn’t hold back, underlined with “you can stick your World Cup up your bollocks.”
In the end, Roy Keane was sent home and did not feature for Ireland, who advanced to the last 16 for the second time under McCarthy.

#4 Suarez vs Ghana

Source: elobservador

Suarez's hand in the match against Ghana in the 2010 FIFA World Cup prevented a goal from Dominic Aliyah. It did break the African dream because Ghana had a big chance to be the first African national team qualifying to the semi-final.
With Uruguay beaten, Suarez blocked the ball with his knee during the dying minutes. Dominic Adiyiah then heated the rebound on goal, where Suarez still be there and blocked it again, but, this time with both hands.
As a result, Suarez immediately received a red card. Still, on the penalty for Ghana, Asamoah Gyan’s attempt hit the crossbar, while Suarez celebrated the miss behind the benches.The match came to a penalty-kick shootout, where Uruguay triumphed 4-2 and Suarez became the hero in his country. On the other hand, Ghanaians never forget this feud and fate, which once again bring them together in the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

#5 Battle of Santiago

Source: sport-fm

Here was regarded as the ugliest, most malicious, and disgraceful in football history, making one of the biggest feuds in FIFA World Cup history.In the 1962 FIFA World Cup, the host Chile played against Italy in Santiago. People could imagine the level of violence in the game, in which two players were sent off, numerous punches were thrown and police intervention was required four times. The referee in that match, Ken Aston, later went on to invent yellow and red cards.The Chilean felt disrespected as they had gone through immense turmoil to get their tournament up and running. Still, they were mocked by a nation they had worked hard to impress in the first place.
Tensions arose among the fans and the players before the match and it indicated that the field will be the most gruesome and horrifying display throughout the history of the sport. As the match between Italy and Chile started, punches were thrown, players were kicked and deadly tackles were seen. It was far from sportsmanship and far from a game of football. And it took just 12 seconds for the first foul to be awarded.