It is not common to see a referee having to leave a match early. Usually it happens because of a muscle strain or injury, but not because of a collision with a player.
That is what happened to Uzbekistan's Ilgiz Tantashev, who had to be substituted through injury after just the first 10 minutes of the match.
It all happened in an attacking move by Morocco on the counter. Baena brought down a Moroccan player and, at the same time and not far away, Abde pushed Marc Pubill forward, where the referee was standing.
The unintentional tackle by the Spanish full-back, who bounced out of the action with Abde, led to the match referee having to leave with an ankle injury. He was replaced by Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg.
August 5, 2024