Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal’s men’s national team will face off against Spain on July 6 in the World Cup Round of 16, and many fans of Croatia are calling out FIFA’s new technology for manifesting that matchup.
Portugal faced Croatia in the Round of 32 and emerged from the 90 minutes with a 2–1 victory. But that victory came as a result of new technology embedded into the match ball, which provided the data needed to revoke Croatia’s last-second equalizer. The resulting decision sparked outrage across the internet.
FIFA has stood by the call, creating entire webpages to explain the new technology and its intention.
FIFA’s Connected Ball Technology
FIFA’s match ball, the Adidas Trionda ball, is fitted with a 500 Hz internal measurement unit sensor to improve fairness, transparency, and speed in determining when a player is offside or committed a handball, triggering penalties.“This sensor captures data 500 times per second, tracking the ball’s acceleration and granular movements in three dimensions,” FIFA said. “This data is used to compute when there has been a touch, and this information is then transmitted in real time to the video operation room, where it is combined with player tracking data from stadium cameras to assist the VARs,” or video assistant referees.
“The technology supports semi-automated offside systems by precisely identifying the kick point — the exact moment when a player makes contact with the ball—to enable faster and more accurate offside calls,” FIFA added.
What Happened to Croatia?
It was in the final seconds of stoppage time. Croatia made one last push to secure an equalizer and push their match against Portugal into extra time. The ball was launched forward by Ivan Perisic, over Igor Matanovic, tied up with a Portuguese defender, and bounced off of Mario Pasilic toward Josko Gvardiol, who put it in the back of the net.Toronto stadium erupted in celebration, but then the flag was raised. Offside. No goal. Referees on the ground first turned to their VAR team off the pitch, and when their review was inconclusive, they turned to the actual game ball. Inside are sensors that send a signal after every single touch.
If the ball touched Matanovic, Pasilic would be considered offside. Because a player is only offside when he has no defenders in front of him from the last moment his teammates touched the ball. Pasilic was onside when the ball left Perisic’s boot, but he was well beyond the Portuguese defense by the time the ball got to Matanovic. A touch meant Pasalic caught a pass from Matanovic, not Perisic.
Video replay shows the ball apparently skimming off Matanovic’s hair and then bouncing off the defender before reaching Pasilic.
The match ball technology registered a touch from Matanovic, making Perisic offside.
“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 Matanovic in the build-up to the goal against Portugal, allowing the referee to correctly determine offside and disallow the goal,” FIFA affirmed in an X post.
“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.”
But the video also indicated the ball bounced much more obviously off a defender before it reached Pasilic, and Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic pointed out in a post-match interview that touch would nullify any offside call.
“I can’t believe what I’ve just seen, the ball clearly comes off his [Veiga’s] head, it’s a disgrace,” he said.
The offside call was ultimately made by the VAR tasked with matching up the timing of the ball data with the video replay, and it was ultimately the VAR that received the criticism from fans and soccer legends alike.
“I’m really struggling to understand what we just witnessed,” Jurgen Klopp, former German World Cup star, said. “Croatia scores in the final minute—a moment of pure emotion—and it’s taken away.”
“I honestly don’t see why that goal doesn’t stand,” he added. ”When decisions are this big, they must be clear. This one just doesn’t feel right. It feels like something has been taken from the players, the fans, the game itself. FIFA and the referees have to do better. I really feel for Croatia—they deserved that moment.”
