Colombia players confront referee Milorad Mazic and signal for VAR after he awards Senegal a penalty during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Mazic rescinded the decision after reviewing VAR footage. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
The common language of soccer players isn’t spoken, but a collection of hand signals and gestures. They shake their arms to signal a hand ball, tug their jerseys to convey that an opponent has been grabbing their kit, or hold up imaginary cards to insist that a caution-worthy infraction has taken place. At the World Cup, where players from 32 countries speak dozens of languages, there is often no other shared way to communicate with others or the referee.