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⚖ VAR Verdict · Case #199

Spain vs Argentina

FIFA World Cup · 2025/2026 · 2026-07-19 · 1-0 (AET)

Correct (No Call) medium confidence
Other
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Incident
Other
Law cited
Law 12 — a player is sent off for offensive, insulting or abusive language or gestures, not for covering the mouth, which is not itself an offence. A sending-off requires a genuine abusive exchange, and a brief hand-to-mouth during ordinary talking is not one.
Recommended action
No card is correct. Covering the mouth is not an offence, and a sending-off requires offensive, insulting or abusive language, which the referee judged did not occur; an opponent demanding a red does not create one.
Referee
Affected team
On-field decision
No card
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Cucurella briefly covered his mouth while speaking near Messi, who demanded a red card; the referee gave nothing. This is a correct no-call. Covering the mouth is not itself an offence — a sending-off requires offensive, insulting or abusive language, and the referee judged no such exchange took place. The gesture only matters if there is a genuine confrontation or abusive words, and an opponent's demand for a card does not manufacture one. CORRECT NO-CALL, medium confidence — it rests on the finding that no abusive words were exchanged.

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