Refereeing scandal at the 2026 World Cup! The referee should have sent off the Uruguay player for foul on Williams
Steven Perez
Dailysports's expert
Refereeing controversies at the World Cup keep escalating, with the VAR system repeatedly letting players off the hook for offenses that clearly warrant straight red cards. Another high-profile incident unfolded in the match between Spain and Uruguay.
Details: During one of the plays, Uruguayan midfielder Nicolás de la Cruz, making no attempt to play the ball, delivered a reckless and forceful challenge to Nico Williams’ legs. According to experts from Archivo VAR, this kind of action is a textbook straight red card for dangerous and violent play.
However, the match referee, Ismail Elfath—who overall had a subpar performance—settled for just a warning, showing the offender a yellow card. The video assistant referees chose not to intervene, leaving this blatant foul without the punishment it deserved.
It should be noted that Spain claimed a 1-0 victory, while Nico Williams suffered a serious injury and will most likely miss the rest of the World Cup.
Reminder: Uruguay’s squad was rocked by a major conflict with Marcelo Bielsa ahead of the Spain clash.
