VAR Ball-Chip Ends Croatia's World Cup, Saves Ronaldo's Run
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- VAR using ball-chip technology in the Adidas Trionda match ball detected a touch by Croatia's Igor Matanovic in the 13th minute of stoppage time, ruling out Josko Gvardiol's tap-in equalizer and sealing Portugal's 2-1 World Cup knockout win
- Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first ever World Cup knockout goal from the penalty spot in his 6th World Cup tournament, had an earlier equaliser disallowed for offside, was substituted in the 81st minute, then ran onto the pitch to celebrate Goncalo Ramos's 94th-minute winner
- Luka Modric, 40, appears to have played his final World Cup match in his 23rd appearance and was consoled by his former Real Madrid teammate Ronaldo after the final whistle; he will be 44 when the next World Cup takes place in 2030
- Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic said the refereeing was "very bad" and that "VAR kills emotions, it kills everything within you," while Portugal boss Roberto Martinez defended the call: "the sensor shows the ball was touched"
- Premier League official Jarred Gillett served as VAR and Norwegian referee Espen Eskas was the on-field referee; BBC commentator Steve Wilson called it "one of the biggest VAR decisions there has ever been"
- Croatia fans threw plastic bottles onto the pitch in chaotic scenes after the decision, ending their World Cup campaign; the Trionda ball's microchip has been used at both the 2022 World Cup and 2024 European Championship
Why it matters: The Trionda ball's embedded microchip — providing real-time ball-touch data to VAR — has now been deployed across three consecutive major tournaments, making hairline offside calls effectively unreviewable through protest. For Croatia, it meant elimination on the cruelest margins; for 40-year-old Modric, it likely cost a fairytale farewell in a match that featured a debated penalty, two disallowed goals, and 13 minutes of stoppage time.
