Joe Cole says ‘no way’ Portugal should have been awarded handball penalty against Uruguay at 2022 World Cup

Former England star Joe Cole said the referee made a “horrendous decision” giving Portugal a penalty for handball in their 2-0 World Cup win over Uruguay.

The referee pointed to the spot after consulting the Video Assistant Referee when the ball hit the hand of Uruguay defender Jose Gimenez.

There was widespread surprise that the penalty was given as Gimenez was falling to the floor at the time and was using his arm to break his fall.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB), which determines the laws of football, say handball should be given for deliberate movements towards the ball or when “a player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation”.

“The ref has had an absolute nightmare there,” said former winger Cole on ITV.

“You can’t give a penalty for that. Any football person will know. There’s a grey area because if you run up to someone and strike the ball and it hits their hand it’s a not penalty, there’s no way Gimenez in that incident knows where the ball is going to end up, he’s just breaking his fall.

“It’s a horrendous decision from the referee. If that was England you would be fuming.

“Uruguay were in the ascendancy, that second goal takes the steam out.”

Bruno Fernandes stepped up to score the penalty and make it 2-0 to Portugal.

The win takes them through to the last 16 while Uruguay remain on one point, but still in with a chance of qualifying if they beat South Korea in their last group match.

“It shows the inconsistencies of VAR because he is using his hand to break his fall,” said former Wales forward Hal Robson-Kanu.

“If he’s not putting his hand down there he’s landing awkwardly and could potentially injure himself.

“From Bruno Fernandes’ perspective he’s thinking that’s taking the ball out of my line of path and I’m in on goal. But we should have a clear definition of whether or not that’s a penalty and we don’t.”

Former Scotland midfielder Graeme Souness said the referee “got it wrong”.

There was also slight confusion over Portugal’s first goal as it appeared Cristiano Ronaldo had flicked in Fernandes’ cross to score his second goal of the tournament.

However, replays suggested there was no contact and Ronaldo was not given the goal.