VAR technology disabled due to penalty for Switzerland, FIFA says during 2026 World Cup match

FIFA has confirmed that a brief technical glitch occurred during a key video assistant referee (VAR) review in Switzerland’s 1-1 draw with Qatar in their FIFA World Cup Group B match at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in Santa Clara on Saturday.

The incident took place in the 14th minute when Switzerland were awarded a penalty after Remo Freuler was brought down in the penalty area by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada.

The decision was subject to two VAR checks in the build-up for possible offside, but the on-field call was ultimately upheld. There was no television explanation of the judging process during the match.

Breel Embolo converted the resulting penalty to give Switzerland the lead, before a late own goal from Miro Muheim gave Qatar a share of the points.

More than three hours after the final whistle, FIFA acknowledged that a “brief technical glitch” had affected the VAR review process. However, the governing body said the issue had no bearing on the final decision and that the correct outcome had been achieved despite the disruption.

«During the match between Qatar and Switzerland in the San Francisco Bay Area, a brief technical glitch prevented the onside animation from being generated prior to the penalty awarded to Switzerland in the 14th minute. The issue was quickly resolved,» FIFA said in a statement.

“The VAR workflow was not affected by this issue and followed the normal procedure when checking the decision on the pitch. The lines used by VAR to check the position of the relevant players did not show that the attacking player was in an offside position in either of the two situations immediately before the penalty decision.

Published on June 14, 2026