Fans Throw Bottles, Cans On Field After Late VAR Drama In Portugal vs Croatia Clash
Late VAR drama saw Croatia crash out of the FIFA World Cup 2026 following a 1-2 loss against Portugal in their Round of 32 clash.
Late VAR drama saw Croatia crash out of the FIFA World Cup 2026 following a 1-2 loss against Portugal in their Round of 32 clash on Friday. Josko Gvardiol scored in the 13th minute of second-half stoppage time, but the celebrations were cut short after VAR disallowed the equalizer for offside. Replays showed that it was an extremely close decision, which caused massive outrage among sections of the crowd. Furious fans inside the stadium began throwing plastic bottles and cans onto the pitch, delaying the restart. The match eventually resumed and Portugal held on to clinch the victory.
Croatia's late equalizer was cancelled… and their fans threw bottles on the pitch in protest. Absolute chaos pic.twitter.com/PfPk78svHU
— Mankind (@tweetmankind) July 3, 2026
FIFA clarified that an IMU sensor inside the official match ball detected a faint touch from Croatian forward Igor Matanovic.
Ivan Perisic had given Croatia the lead shortly after the break, but Cristiano Ronaldo's third goal of these finals drew Portugal level. Goncalo Ramos then rose highest to send a Rafael Leao cross home in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
A Hail Mary pass into the Portugal box fell to Mario Pasalic to square for Josko Gvardiol to tap home in 103 minute. After a VAR review, however, Pasalic was deemed to have been in an offside position.
The ball was crossed in by Ivan Perisic, and it appeared that Mario Pasalic had gotten in behind before chesting it down for Gvardiol to finish with a sliding effort. It looked as if Croatia had rescued itself right at the end, just like it has done so many times before.
But VAR intervened. Initially, it looked like Pasalic had chested the ball off a deflection from Portugal's Renato Veiga, which would have kept him onside. But after the VAR review, it showed that Croatia's Igor Matanovic got a slight flick on the ball before it reached Veiga.
At the point the ball made contact with Matanović's head, Pašalić was in an offside position, which negated the goal in heartbreaking fashion for this Croatian side.
FIFA later confirmed through a social media post that Matanovic's contact was determined using the data provided by Connected Ball Technology placed in the official match ball.
"According to the data provided by Connected Ball Technology housed within the @adidasfootball Trionda, the official match ball of the @FIFAWorldCup, it was proven that contact was made by Croatia's #20 Igor Matanović in the build up to the goal against Portugal, allowing the referee to correctly determine offside and disallow the goal.
"IMU sensors housed within the Trionda ball are capable of determining any slight contact, displayed to viewers in the broadcast as a 'heartbeat graphic', and allowing officials an unprecedented level of data to make fast, accurate decisions," FIFA Media shared on X.
(With IANS inputs)
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