Four days ago, Collina's new rule sent Germany packing; four days later, Cucurella nearly stepped into the same trap.

On July 2, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. World Cup Round of 32 knockout match, Spain vs. Austria.

In the 29th minute, Cucurella fired a left-footed shot from a chaotic scramble in the box, the ball nestling into the net.

The whistle blew. Goal disallowed.

Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg pointed to the corner flag. He ruled that Pau Cubarsí had obstructed Austrian goalkeeper Schlager while jumping.

Former Premier League referee Graham Scott stared at the replay for a long time in his column for The Athletic, then typed a line: There was contact, "but I didn't see any foul."

Scott refereed in the Premier League for ten years and just retired. He spent half his life in this trade. If he says it's not a foul, it's not a foul.

But Nyberg said it was a foul. VAR reviewed it and upheld the decision.

This string was tightened by FIFA's Chief Refereeing Officer, Pierluigi Collina, himself.

On May 31, he informed all teams: This World Cup will strictly crack down on obstructing the goalkeeper in the penalty area. The red line was drawn clearly, but the measuring stick was placed in the referee's pocket. What constitutes a foul contact depends entirely on the brainwave in that split second before the whistle blows.

Four days earlier, that same brainwave had sent the German team home.

On June 29, Round of 32 knockout match, Germany vs. Paraguay. In the 103rd minute of extra time, Jonathan Tah headed in a winning goal. VAR intervened, ruling that teammate Anton had obstructed goalkeeper Gil. The goal was disallowed. Germany eventually lost 3-4 on penalties and was eliminated.

Nagelsmann fumed at the ZDF camera after the match: "This isn't a controversy, this is a blatant scandal."

Losing and blaming the referee is normal. But Nagelsmann's complaint stung, because four days later, the Spanish team verified his point. The same corner kick, the same physical contact, the same goal disallowed.

The difference was that Spain didn't give the rules a chance to kill the suspense.

In the 36th minute, Cucurella swept a low cross in from the left, and Oyarzabal got a touch to poke it into the net. In the 66th minute, Porro scored with a header. In the 89th minute, Oyarzabal scored his second. 3-0.

The stats are even more brutal. Spain's xG was 2.84, Austria's was 0.32. 0.32 means the Austrians ran for 90 minutes and couldn't even create a decent shooting chance. Even if that disallowed goal had counted, it would have been just a punctuation mark in Spain's offensive onslaught.

Possession was 64% to 36%. Shots on target were 10 to 0. Austria was ground into the turf for the entire match.

Cucurella is all too familiar with this kind of rule situation.

On July 5, 2024, Euro quarterfinal, Germany vs. Spain. He blocked a German shot with his arm in the box. Referee Anthony Taylor didn't call it, VAR Stuart Attwell reviewed and upheld the decision. Spain won 2-1, Germany was heartbroken. UEFA later confirmed: the decision was correct.

Last September, Cucurella gave an interview about that handball, grinning: "UEFA told me they had to change the rules because of me."

One man forced UEFA to patch their rules.

Two years later, the same man, in another major tournament, was ground down by another new rule. Two years ago, he exploited a loophole in the handball rule, making the Germans gnash their teeth. Two years later, the new goalkeeper protection rule came crashing down, and he was the one whose goal was erased.

The most absurd part was the scene in front of the monitor.

Scott said it wasn't a foul. Nyberg called it a foul. VAR—Pole Kwiatkowski—reviewed it and chose to back the referee. Three professional referees watched the same replay and came to two different conclusions.

Collina wanted to protect the goalkeeper, but ended up maximizing subjective discretion. Spain took the hit this time but filled the hole with pure strength. Germany stepped into the same hole last time, and the price was the entire team buying plane tickets home.

Unai Simón wasn't tested all match, casually extending his World Cup clean sheet record to 477 minutes, breaking Casillas' club record of 476 minutes.

3-0. Spain advanced as usual. Cucurella walked off the pitch with two assists.

Four days earlier, the same corner kick, the same physical contact. Germany went home because of that play.