SI

Soccer Fans Are Debating a Crucial No-Call on Spain Handball That Kept Germany at Bay

Spain would wind up losing by a goal.

Josh Wilson

Spain vs Germany at the Euros, 2024
Spain vs Germany at the Euros, 2024 /

In extra time, Spain would defeat Germany to advance in UEFA Euro 2024 with a late header goal to take a 2-1 lead. Just before, in the 105th minute, Germany's Jamal Musiala sent a shot toward the net with his right foot. Spain's Marc Cucurella slid in to defend, but his left hand made contact with the ball as he attempted to get his arms down at his side.

Here's a look at the incident, which was not called for a penalty:

Plenty of fans on social media thought it an obvious penalty:

Others thought a no-call was the right decision:

The laws of the game are clear that, for non-goalkeepers, "not every touch of a player's hand/arm with the ball is a [handball]." The rulebook goes on to say a handball is a penalty if the player deliberately touches the ball with their hand or arm, or if they have made their body, "unnaturally bigger," within the play, or if they score in their opponents' goal directly from their hand/arm accidentally.

The rule was debated by UEFA in April of last year.

This is one of those gray areas that makes it a very tough play to judge. At first glance, it looks to be an obvious handball, but re-reading the rules of the game, one could make the argument that Cucurella was not making his body bigger, nor did he touch the ball purposefully.

Such an explanation won't be satisfying for Germany supporters, though.

In the end, no handball was called, and Spain advanced. They will face the winner of the match between France and Portugal on Tuesday.

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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