Haiti’s narrow 0-1 World Cup opening loss to Scotland remains under intense international scrutiny following highly contested refereeing decisions that directly affected the game. Algerian official Mustapha Ghorbal, 41, who previously refereed matches during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, is at the center of the post-match debate due to two critical incidents in the second half where video assistant interventions were glaringly absent.
The primary point of contention occurred in the 79th minute, when a strike by midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde distinctly struck the hand of Scottish defender Grant Hanley inside the penalty box; however, play was allowed to continue without a VAR review, robbing the Grenadiers of a late equalizer opportunity. Minutes later, during stoppage time, Scotland’s Kenny McLean escaped a straight red card, receiving only a yellow for a dangerous, high-risk tackle on Haitian substitute Josué Casimir. Global sports networks have strongly criticized the officiating; ESPN’s Central American division openly pointed out the controversial refereeing, while French outlets RMC Sport and So Foot questioned the severe sporting prejudice suffered by the Caribbean side. The back-to-back errors evoke memories of Ghorbal’s recent domestic troubles, such as last April’s CAF Champions League match where he required a police escort to evacuate the stadium after triggering a fan riot with an controversial VAR-backed ruling.
