Why Josko Gvardiol's goal against Portugal didn't count: Croatian fans throw bottles onto the pitch amid VAR controversy

Croatia were hit by another controversial VAR decision in the World Cup round of 16 against Portugal when Josko Gvardiol's last-minute equalizer was disallowed. Portugal thought they had won the game when Goncalo Ramos made it 2-1 in the 94th minute after Cristiano Ronaldo canceled out Ivan Perisic's opener from the penalty spot. But Croatia didn't give up and pushed deep into stoppage time. In the 103rd minute the ball came from the left when Mario Pasalic played it into the path of Gvardiol, who netted. It seemed as if Croatia had saved the tie in the final seconds and the game went into extra time. However, Snicko technology, which detects touch, showed a tiny touch to Igor Matanovic's head as the ball entered the penalty area. This meant that Pasalic was offside when he received the ball. Referee Espen Eskas was called to the monitor to review - an unusual move for an offside decision - and canceled the goal, almost certainly sending Portugal into the round of 16. Angry Croatian fans responded with protests and threw water bottles onto the pitch, leading to a delay in the restart. Perisic, who had given Croatia hope in the 53rd minute, had to go and argue with the Croatian supporters before the replay of the offside situation was shown on the big screen at BMO Field. The BBC commentators saw

this as an attempt to assuage the Croatians' anger by showing how clearly Pasalic was offside. However, the controversy surrounding this VAR decision arose from its complete reliance on Snicko technology, whose touch was so weak that it was barely visible to the naked eye. Former referee Darren Cann commented after the game in a message he received from a BBC pundit: "He was offside when the ball was last played by a teammate and the ball took a deflection off the defender and was not played intentionally, so the offside remains. Snicko proves 100 percent that he hit it with his head." Croatia were still devastated when the final whistle blew and Portugal progressed to the round of 16 against Spain. Man City midfielder Mateo Kovacic cried and had to be comforted as the dramatic scene closed the World Cup chapter for 40-year-old Croatia captain Luka Modric, who had led his team to the final and semi-finals of the last two tournaments.