“The Hand of God now belongs to me,” said Luis Saurez after his goal line handball stopped Ghana’s late winner and led to Uruguay qualifying for the 2010 World Cup semi-final.
A red card and a penalty followed but when Asamoah Gyan hit the penalty against the crossbar, Suarez celebrated exuberantly on the touchline. Uruguay won the deciding shootout and Ghana, the last African team in the South Africa-hosted World Cup, were out.
Suarez’s actions ended Ghana’s involvement at the World Cup but also prevented a moment of history for African football, which has still had only three teams (Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana themselves in 2010) reach a quarterfinal, let alone go any further.
Morocco have subsequently become the first African team to ever make the semi-finals of the World Cup after their sensational victory over Portugal in the 2022 World Cup.
