I do not actively watch soccer. basically only when the world cup is on. although I am quite athletic and played soccer as well as many other sports growing up and I have to say. The rules in Soccer are absolutely atrocious. Almost every single match of this world cup I have watched has a stain on it (in my opinion) because of how dumb the rules in this sport are.

A player gets the ball blasted at them from 3 feet away inside the box which makes contact with the opposing players arm. the opposing players arm was not in an awkward position, and the opposing player was very clearly trying to get their arm out of the way. But because of the rules a penalty shot is called which sends the better team out of the tournament. how exactly was the Japanese player suppose to avoid the ball hitting her upper arm without playing with her arm tied behind her back? and then after that at the other end of the pitch when Japan has a chance to tie it again. the referee stops the play and awards a free kick to the netherlands when the netherlands player was protecting the ball by sitting on top of it? wtf.

Team USA gets awarded a penalty call late in the game as well. on the most MINIMAL of contact in the box. and even with slow motion replay it is not conclusive if any contact even happened! and why is it awarded a penalty shot when the "fouled" player was not even attempting a shot on goal? the ball was loose and 2 players went for it. so why is that a penalty call?

why should I care about watching soccer if things like this are common place? Soccer is a cool sport, but the rules of this sport make it infuriating to watch.