Gilberto Mora makes history as the youngest Mexican in a World Cup

Gesture under the magnifying glass

FIFA opened an investigation into a gesture that Australian referee Shaun Evans made during the VAR presentation before the match between Germany and Curacao, valid for Group E of the 2026 World Cup. The match ended 7-1 in favor of the Germans.

In the television broadcast, Evans, 38, appeared standing with his right arm extended and his fingers forming the downward “OK” symbol. While the gesture may be harmless—similar to the one popularized by the series Malcolm in the Middle—it is also linked to expressions of extremism.

Symbol background

Since 2017, radical sectors began to use it to communicate their adherence to hateful ideologies. In 2019, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an international organization founded in 1913 to combat anti-Semitism, included it on its list of hate symbols.

The ADL notes that the inverted gesture has become an online “provocation tactic” by extremist groups that post photos doing it on social media.

Change in protocol

After the incident, the pre-match protocol was modified for the next three games. When the VAR room was shown, the referees were already in front of the monitors and none of them were looking at the camera.

Evans has been on the FIFA referee list since 2017. He participated in VAR during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and has refereed in the Australian A-League since 2012, including the 2019 final.

The NRG Stadium, located in Houston, Texas, is part of the list of confirmed venues for the 2026 World Cup. It is a venue with the capacity to host more than 72,000 spectators, which positions it as a facility suitable for high-impact matches.

Key stadium data

The property has an official capacity that ranges between 71,795 and 72,220 attendees, according to the source consulted. Its surface is natural grass, an essential condition for soccer. The property belongs to Harris County, a local government entity.

The NRG Stadium opened its doors on August 24, 2002. Its construction required an investment of 352 million dollars. More than two decades later, it will be part of the global tournament.

Strategic location

The stadium is located in the Houston metropolitan area, within the state of Texas. Its coordinates (29°41’05″N, 95°24’39″W) place it in an area with access to transportation infrastructure and urban services. For the 2026 World Cup, the city served as a logistical base for the matches scheduled there.

The combination of capacity, adequate surface area and location in one of the main American cities makes the NRG Stadium a relevant piece on the map of World Cup venues.

FIFA agreed to include Spanish in the press conferences prior to the 2026 World Cup matches. Until now, only questions were allowed in English and the languages ​​of the two participating teams. The measure closes the controversy unleashed when players like the Moroccan Achraf Hakimi and the Brazilian Vinicius Júnior could not respond in Spanish due to lack of translation.

Luis García Montero, director of the Cervantes Institute, celebrated the decision. “It is positive that FIFA has reconsidered its position, because Spanish is an international reference language and is the official language of Mexico, one of the host countries,” he told the media.

“Spanish football has been scoring goals for a long time, and it was very sad that FIFA conceded an own goal,” added Montero.

The director of Cervantes recalled that more than 60 million people of Hispanic origin live in the United States, of which more than 43 million have Spanish as their mother tongue. FIFA’s decision recognizes the demographic and cultural weight of the language in the tournament that Mexico, the United States and Canada will share.