World Cup final referee Slavko Vincic suffered an embarrassing moment with the eyes of the world on him during Sunday’s World Cup final in New Jersey.
Vincic was appointed to officiate football’s biggest game – an honor the Slovenian described as a ‘dream.’
But after awarding Spain a free-kick in the second half of their clash with Argentina, Vincic suffered a malfunction with his vanishing spray.
As he tried to pull the canister from his back pocket, Vincic inadvertently let off some of the spray – right into the face of an unwitting Alex Baena, the Spain winger standing at the ref’s 6 o’clock.
Fortunately for Baena, the mixture of water and propellant gases stream did not force him out of the game until the 75th minute, when he was replaced by Nico Williams.
Fans naturally tried to blame the mishap on some nefarious plot to benefit Team Argentina.
As he tried to pull the canister from his back pocket, Slavko Vincic inadvertently let off some of the disappearing spray – right into the face of an unwitting Spanish winger Alex Baena
Alex Baena of Spain gestures during the World Cup. He was taken out of the game in the 75th
Alex Baena #15 of Spain argues a call with referee Slavko Vincic during Sunday’s final
‘Ref trying to blind Alex so Argentinians have a chance,’ read a post on X.
Interestingly, it was Argentina fans who were nervous about Vincic ahead of Sunday’s final.
Vincic is a highly experienced referee, having officiated the 2024 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, as well as Spain’s Euro 2024 semi-final victory over France on their way to becoming champions.
However, it is not only his colorful past, including being ‘wrongly’ arrested at a ‘sex party’ in 2020, that has raised concerns in the Argentine media. Much of the apprehension centered on his history with the national team.
The 46-year-old made his World Cup debut at Qatar 2022 and officiated Argentina’s shock opening defeat to Saudi Arabia. Notably, that remains the last match involving Argentina that he has overseen, while Lionel Messi & Co. have not lost a World Cup match since, recovering from that early setback to lift the trophy by defeating France on penalties in the final.
Vincic has officiated three matches at this World Cup: the 1-1 group-stage draw between Brazil and Morocco, Algeria’s 2-1 win over Jordan, and Mexico’s victory over Ecuador in the Round of 32.
On Sunday, Vincic’s biggest impact came in stoppage time when he issued a red card to Argentina’s Enzo Fernández, leaving coach Lionel Scaloni without a key midfielder for extra time.
