World Cup Referee Smoothly Plays Off Handshake Snub (Video)

We’ve all been there.

You stick out your hand for a handshake. The other guy does not reciprocate. Embarrassment ensues.

Unfortunately for Canadian soccer referee Joe Fletcher, that same awkward miscommunication played out for him Wednesday. On live TV. At the biggest sporting event in the world.

Fletcher was set to lead Chile and Spain out onto the field ahead of their group-play matchup at the 2014 FIFA World Cup when a man — presumably a FIFA official — came through to shake the hand of each team’s captain. The ref mistakenly though he’d be getting a handshake, too, and was forced to pull out the oldest trick in the book when he was passed over.

[protected-iframe id=”e9067ffcb3f236c77fce570569d216d9-38215605-37437745″ info=”https://vine.co/v/MTzDUlh9i0D/embed/simple” width=”600″ height=”600″ frameborder=”0″]

Ouch.

Fletcher finally did get his handshake, and he had a good laugh about it with one of his fellow refs and Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Casillas wouldn’t be smiling for long, though. Chile went on to shut out Spain 2-0, eliminating the defending World Cup champs from contention.

Hat tip to Dirty Tackle