📸 Here we go again?! Handball call turns World Cup tie upside down | OneFootball

Handball penalty or play on? For many Germany fans, this question has been almost impossible to answer without emotion ever since the handball penalty that wasn’t given in the Euro 2024 quarter-final against Spain.

The 2026 World Cup has also just gained another highly questionable handball decision. In the 1-1 draw between the Czech Republic and South Africa, a handball penalty led to the crucial equalizer for the Africans.

Teboho Mokoena hit Czech player Sulc on the arm from close range. Referee Tori Penso then pointed to the spot, and Mokoena converted it himself to make it 1-1 in the 83rd minute. But was it really handball?

As can be seen in the image, the defender tried to turn away and didn’t really have his arm stretched far from his body. The VAR likely didn’t intervene simply because it wasn’t a clear and obvious error.

For comparison: there was no penalty for this in the summer of 2024.

What do you think: did the refereeing team get it exactly right today?

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 Lars Baron - 2026 Getty Images