FIFA explained why the main referee of the 1/8 final of the 2026 World Cup between Portugal and Croatia disallowed a goal by Croatian defender Joško Gvardiol in the last seconds of the match, reports UNN.
According to data provided by Connected Ball Technology embedded in Trionda - the official match ball of the World Cup, it was proven that during the attack that ended with a goal against Portugal, there was contact by Croatian player No. 20 Igor Matanović, which allowed the referee to correctly determine offside and not count the goal
FIFA also stated that the IMU sensors built into the Trionda ball can detect even the slightest contact, which is shown to viewers in the broadcast as a "heartbeat graph" and provides referees with an unprecedented amount of data to make quick and accurate decisions.
Context
In the 90+12th minute of the match Portugal - Croatia, with the score 2:1 in favor of the Portuguese team, Croatian winger Ivan Perišić delivered a cross into the penalty area, where Igor Matanović passed it on to Mario Pašalić, who then passed to Joško Gvardiol along the goal line, and the Manchester City defender equalized the score.
However, the match referee, after a VAR review, disallowed the goal because Pašalić was in an offside position at the moment of Matanović's pass. However, the replay does not clearly show whether Matanović touched the ball.
The graphic from Connected Ball Technology, which shows touches on the ball, indicates that the Croatian forward touched the ball, but fans are arguing why the technology did not show touches on the ball by Portuguese players, because before the "leather" reached Pašalić, it touched Portuguese defender Renato Veiga.