Even FIFA president Sepp Blatter has delivered a withering attack on the officiating at this World Cup.

South Korea, in particular, have benefited from a handful of dodgy decisions on their march into the semi-finals.

But the World Cup's colourful history contains a welter of questionable judgments that have shaped the destiny of the finals.

Here are eight of the worst decisions in the tournament's 72-year history.

1 Diego Maradona's Hand of God goal (England 1 Argentina 2, quarter-final, June 22, 1986)

The worst decision ever? Maybe, but Ali Ben Nasser and his linesmen weren't the only men at the Azteca Stadium and watching on television around the world who missed Maradona's handball.

2 Geoff Hurst's second goal (England 4 West Germany 2, final, July 30, 1966)

Perhaps England were due the Maradona decision after this miscarriage of footballing justice. Russian linesman Tofik Bakhramov said the whole of the ball had crossed the line - TV evidence contradicts him.

3 Zico's late header (Brazil 1 Sweden 1, first round, June 3, 1978)

Referee Clive Thomas made himself the enemy of all of Brazil by ruling out Zico's header. He blew for full time as a corner was arcing towards the midfielder - after just eight seconds of injury time.

4 Toni Schumacher's assault (France 3 West Germany 3 - West Germany won 5-4 on penalties, semi-final, July 8)

The worst foul in World Cup history was punished - by referee Charles Corver awarding a goal kick. Patrick Battiston had to be given oxygen on the pitch after being knocked unconscious by Schumacher's violent bodycheck.

5 Ray Richards's two bookings (Australia 0 Chile 0, first round, June 22, 1974)

Ray who? you might ask. But this man is a World Cup hero. Referee Jafar Namdar showed him a second yellow card - but carelessly forgot he'd already booked him. Richards played on for five minutes until a linesman pointed out the error.

6 Time's up for French (Argentina 1 France 0, first round, July 15, 1930)

With nine-man France pushing for an equaliser, referee Gilberto de Almeida Rego inexplicably blew for full time six minutes early. He restarted the game, but the French had lost their impetus during the unscheduled break.

7 Italians see red (Chile 2 Italy 0, first round, June 2, 1962)

The most vicious match in World Cup history. English referee Arthur Ellis, who later starred on It's A Knockout, sent off Italians Giorgio Ferrini and Mario David before half-time. But he missed Chile's many acts of retribution.

8 Spain's double whammy (Spain 0 South Korea 0 - South Korea won 5-3 on penalties, June 22, 2002)

Congratulations to Egyptian referee Gamal Ghandour and his assistant Michael Ragoonath, who made one monumental mistake each against Spain. First, Ghandour wrongly disallowed Ivan Helguera's goal for pushing; then Ragoonath claimed the ball had gone out of play before Fernando Morientes scored. It hadn't.