ZURICH : FIFA said Connected Ball Technology helped officials correctly disallow Croatia’s stoppage-time equaliser against Portugal after sensors inside the official match ball detected a touch by Igor Matanovic that led to an offside decision.
Croatia thought they had forced extra time in Thursday’s World Cup Round of 32 match when Josko Gvardiol tapped home in the 103rd minute after Mario Pasalic squared the ball across goal.
However, following a Video Assistant Referee review, the goal was ruled out because Pasalic was in an offside position when Matanovic made slight contact with Ivan Perisic’s cross.
Initially, it appeared the ball had reached Pasalic after deflecting off Portugal defender Renato Veiga, which would have kept the midfielder onside.
Replays and data from the match ball instead showed that Matanovic had made a faint touch before the ball reached Veiga, making Pasalic offside at the moment of contact and invalidating the goal.
FIFA said the decision was supported by Connected Ball Technology embedded in the official Adidas Trionda match ball.
“According to the data provided by Connected Ball Technology housed within the Adidas Trionda, the official match ball of the FIFA World Cup, it was proven that contact was made by Croatia’s No. 20 Igor Matanovic in the build-up to the goal against Portugal, allowing the referee to correctly determine offside and disallow the goal,” FIFA said in a post on social media.
“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.”
The decision preserved Portugal’s 2-1 victory in Toronto.
Croatia had taken the lead through Ivan Perisic early in the second half before Cristiano Ronaldo levelled from the penalty spot to become the oldest player to score in a World Cup knockout match.
Substitute Goncalo Ramos then headed home Rafael Leao’s cross in stoppage time to complete Portugal’s comeback and book a last-16 meeting with Spain.
