Cameras caught Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani’s overwhelming rage at the end of the match, which knocked his team out of the World Cup in Qatar despite a 2-0 victory over Ghana on Friday night.
Uruguay needed to win 3-0 to qualify for the World Cup final instead of South Korea, who beat Portugal in the 90th minute to advance to the next round.
The referee of the Uruguay-Ghana match refused to award a penalty to fellow Cavani after returning to VAR to consider interference by the Ghana defender on Darwin Nunez.
Before that, the referee awarded Ghana a penalty after returning to the VAR technique, but Black Stars captain Andre Ayew could not score it.
After the end of the match, the Uruguayan players aggressively confronted a team of referees heading into the tunnel to leave.
The Uruguayan players then left the field through a tunnel, and when Cavani passed near the VAR screen, he hit her hard, knocking her to the ground, in front of the organizing committee and match observers.
Cavani’s behavior has angered fans and it is likely that the International Federation of Football Associations will punish him.