In the 62nd minute, midfielder Nicolas Raskin broke free on the left and delivered a high cross. Central defender Aymeric Laporte headed the ball away, which then struck Rodri's arm at close range. Belgium players, including Raskin, appealed for a penalty from referee Michael Oliver.

However, the English referee waved play on. The video assistant referee (VAR) team also did not ask him to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.

Laporte (left) heads the ball, which then strikes Rodri's arm during Spain's 2-1 victory over Belgium in the World Cup 2026 quarter-finals at Los Angeles, USA on 10/7. *Screenshot*

The reason for this decision lies in the International Football Association Board (IFAB) law regarding handball. According to IFAB Law 12, not every instance of the ball striking an arm is considered an offense. A player is only penalized if they intentionally move their hand towards the ball or position their arm in an unnatural way that makes their body unusually larger, thereby accepting the risk of the ball hitting their arm.

Conversely, the law also specifies certain situations where handball is not an offense. This exception applies directly to Rodri's play: a player is not penalized if the ball touches their hand or arm after it has first touched a teammate.

In this specific situation, Laporte headed the ball to clear it. After his header, the ball's trajectory changed suddenly and then struck Rodri's arm from a very short distance. Since the ball came from a teammate, this incident falls under the category of exceptions stipulated by IFAB that are not penalized.

In addition to the aforementioned factor, two other details supported the referee's decision.

First, Rodri had virtually no time to react after the ball changed direction from Laporte's header. The extremely short distance made it impossible for him to intentionally avoid the ball.

Laporte (14) heads the ball, which strikes Rodri's arm (16), as Romelu Lukaku (9) watches during Spain's 2-1 victory over Belgium in the World Cup 2026 quarter-finals at SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California, USA on 10/7. *AP*

Second, the Spanish midfielder's arm was deemed to be in a natural position, consistent with his body's movement while retreating defensively. He neither extended his arm to enlarge his body's outline nor actively moved his arm towards the ball.

Consequently, VAR determined that this was not a "clear and obvious error" by the referee, thus providing no reason to intervene or ask Oliver to review it.

Swedish referee Victor, who is also a referee instructor and runs the "Referee Channel" account specializing in analyzing controversial situations, reached a similar conclusion. According to him, all three factors – the ball coming from a teammate, changing direction at close range, and the arm being in a natural position – met the criteria for not awarding a penalty.

This rule has been applied before.

In the Champions League semi-final second leg between PSG and Bayern Munich in 5/2026, Joao Neves also had the ball strike his arm after Vitinha cleared it. At that time, the referee also did not award Bayern a penalty because the situation fell under the same exception in IFAB Law 12.

The match at SoFi Stadium on 10/7 concluded with a 2-1 victory for Spain, while Belgium was eliminated. Luis de la Fuente's squad will advance to the semi-finals to face France at Dallas Stadium at 2h on wednesday, 15/7, Hanoi time.

Spain opens the scoring

Belgium equalizes

Merino scores the winning goal for a 2-1 victory

Hoang An (from L'Equipe)