A VAR decision denied Croatia a goal in injury time, leading to Portugal's 2-1 victory over Croatia.
For a moment, Croatia seemed to have done the impossible. In the round of 16, Joško Gvardiol scored an equalizer in the 90th minute to keep the match alive against Portugal. But the goal was disallowed after a VAR check, sealing Portugal's 2-1 victory and ending Croatia's World Cup campaign in heartbreaking fashion. However, what is notable is why VAR was able to disallow the goal: a microchip, embedded in the match ball, confirmed the offside call. Before the goal, Ivan Perišić had sent a long pass into the area, where Mario Pašalić received the ball; the latter bounced, before Gvardiol dived to send it into the net. And although it appeared that Igor Matanović, who was also in the area, may have touched the ball with a header before it reached Pašalić, it was difficult to establish this from video images alone. This is where the chip came in: the sensor was able to determine that Matanović had actually touched the ball with his header before it landed on Pašalić. This distinction led to the offside call, because while Pašalić was in a regular position when Perišić made the pass, the midfielder was offside when Matanović struck the ball. Adidas, which announced the inclusion of chips in game balls in October, refers to this technology as "Connected Ball Technology". The chip, which measures inertia, is inserted directly into one of the four panels that make up the balloon, instead of being suspended in the center; the rest of the balloon then contains counterweights to ensure that the balloon is not unbalanced. Information from the chip is sent in real time to the VAR, Adidas reported. This makes it easier for officials to determine when players touch the ball (including potential handballs), how fast they hit it, and more. The chips are battery powered, which means the game balls need to be recharged before match days. Once charged, the battery life of a play ball is approximately six hours. Croatia becomes the latest team to be hit with a goal disallowed after a VAR review, but is one of the first to have such a decision directly influenced by the chip. As a result, Portugal will advance to the round of 16 and face Spain, while Croatia will return home.
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