World Cup pundits in agreement Uruguay were robbed of penalty amid late fury

BBC Sport pundits were in no doubt Uruguay were robbed of a penalty against Ghana which cost them their place at the World Cup.

The South American nation were leading their opponents two-nil on Friday and heading into the knockout rounds as runners-up in Group H. That was until South Korea struck a late winner in the group's other fixture against Portugal to leave Uruguay needing another goal to progress on goal difference.

Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani then went to ground in the Ghana penalty box in added time, only for his and his team-mates calls for a penalty to be waved away by referee Daniel Siebert. Minutes later, Siebert blew his whistle for full-time, only to be surrounded by a swarm of angry Uruguay players.

Siebert booked Cavani for dissent amid the post-match drama, as well as Uruguay defender Jose Maria Gimenez, before making a sharp exit down the tunnel, only to be followed by a hoard of furious stars. Uruguay were angry that Cavani was not awarded a spot kick after he collided with Alidu Seidu in the box.

On closer inspection, it appeared the experienced Cavani purposely stepped across his marker as Seidu made attempts to get back goal-side of the former Manchester United man. Seidu made contact with Cavani's right leg, sending him tumbling to the turf, but Siebert was uninterested in the protests, nor was the VAR, who didn't even ask the match official to review the flashpoint on the pitchside monitor.

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But speaking about the incident in the BBC studio after the final whistle, all of the pundits selected for the game believed the referee had got the decision wrong. Former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino said: "Sure, for me it is a penalty. It was clever from him to wait for the challenge."

Ex-England striker Alan Shearer concurred: "It is a penalty. There is no anticipating what VAR is thinking." Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand added: "There is contact, it is a penalty. Normally they would send the referee to go and have a look. They could not have seen the pictures we saw."

It was not the only decision which proved contentious during the match, as Liverpool star Darwin Nunez was also denied a penalty in the 57th minute after Siebert refused to overturn his initial decision following a tackle by Ghana's Daniel Amartey, which the VAR asked him to review.

Ghana had already been awarded a penalty earlier in the match when the score was goalless, but Andre Ayew failed to convert. Uruguay took the upper hand soon after, scoring twice in six minutes, both through midfielder Giorgian de Arrascaeta.

From there they looked to be on course to progress until Hwang Hee-chan scored late on for South Korea to go 2-1 ahead vs Portugal to put them back in the driving seat and leave Uruguay scrambling for another goal. Luis Suarez - the villain for his handball against Ghana in the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals - was left in tears on the Uruguay bench at full-time.

Ghana fans responded by chanting 'Korea, Korea, Korea' in jubilation at Uruguay's exit, despite heading out of the tournament themselves after the defeat.

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