A rare sight? World Cup referee cramps up during stoppage time, lies on the pitch—players help stretch his leg, match paused for 2 minutes

The second round of Group D at the World Cup, ending on June 20 local time, saw the host nation USA beat Australia 2-0, notching their second consecutive victory and becoming the second team—after Mexico—to clinch a spot in the next round. And during stoppage time, an amusing incident occurred.

In the 3rd minute of added time, referee Zwayer showed a yellow card to US defender Richards. Shortly after, he suffered a leg cramp and lay down on the pitch, allowing an Australian player to help stretch his leg, followed by an assistant referee doing the same.

The fourth official, a female Mexican referee, also entered the field to hand him water for energy replenishment. After drinking, Zwayer took a while to recover before finally getting up to continue officiating, earning applause from the fans in attendance.

Due to Zwayer’s cramp, the match was halted for about two minutes. The originally scheduled six minutes of stoppage time were extended all the way to the 98th minute.

Born on May 19, 1981, Zwayer is a well‑known German referee. Early in his career, he was involved in a referee scandal and was suspended by the German Football Association for six months.

During the 2021 German Clásico, in the 53rd minute, after a pass combination between Reus and Haaland, the latter entered the box and went down following contact with Lucas. Zwayer made no call, but later awarded a penalty to Bayern Munich.

After that match, Zwayer was heavily criticized by Jude Bellingham, who was then playing for Dortmund. Due to missing a penalty call in Dortmund’s favor, Zwayer was sidelined from refereeing for two months.