Paraguayan Matías Galarza grabs referee's watch in Turkey cup

Paraguayan forward Matías Galarza opened the scoring against Turkey on Saturday (20) and then seized the match referee’s watch, wearing it briefly during the first‑half scuffle. The bizarre episode unfolded in the early hours of the cup tie, drawing attention beyond the winning goal.

The watch fell onto the pitch during a scuffle between players near the end of the first half. El Salvadorian official Ivan Barton was attempting to separate the players when the device was pulled off his wrist and left on the grass.

Matías Galarza noticed the abandoned watch and retrieved it from the field. He immediately slipped the timepiece onto his own wrist, adjusting it for a few moments.

During the remainder of the first half Galarza kept fiddling with the watch and did not approach the referee to return it. The referee remained without his device until the second half.

When play resumed in the second half the referee was seen wearing the watch again. The incident was captured in images showing the device on the field and later on Galarza’s wrist.

The article reporting the incident was translated into English by artificial intelligence. The original Portuguese version is available via a link to the Brazilian site.