For a moment, Croatia seemed to do the impossible. In the Round of 32, Joško Gvardiol scored a stoppage-time equalizer to keep their game against Portugal alive.
But the goal was called back after VAR review, sealing Portugal’s 2-1 victory and ending Croatia’s World Cup run in heartbreaking fashion. Notable, though, was the reason why VAR was able to overturn the goal: a microchip, embedded in the game ball, that confirmed the offside call.
Before the goal, Ivan Perišić had sent a long ball into the box, where it was received by Mario Pašalić; the ball then bounced, before Gvardiol slid to send the ball into the net. And while it seemed that Igor Matanović, who was in the box, may have made contact with the ball before it ended up with Pašalić, it was difficult to determine from video review alone.
That’s where the chip came in: The sensor was able to determine Matanović did indeed touch the ball with his flicking header before it landed with Pašalić. That distinction led to the offside call, because while Pašalić was onside when Perišić made his pass, the midfielder was offside as Matanović got his head on the ball.
Read more about the microchip embedded in the official World Cup match balls.