Croatia thought it had scored its last-ever equalizer against Portugal in a round of 32 match, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
The incident happened in stoppage time, with Portugal leading 2-1. Croatian winger Ivan Perisic whipped in a cross from the left, which flipped around inside the six-yard box before Mario Pasalic squared the ball for defender Josko Gvardiol to bundle the ball into the goal.
The Croatian players celebrated wildly before the referee came to them for a video review.
Pasalic was in an offside position when Perisic delivered the cross. But the referee, using Snicko technology, determined that Croatian striker Igor Matanović had shot the ball into the air before it came off the back of Portuguese centre-back Renato Veiga.
At the moment of Matanovic’s contact, Pasalic was in an offside position, making the entire action invalid. The referee immediately disallowed the goal, leading to loud protests from the Croatian players and fans.
That was the closest Croatia came to a second goal as Portugal held on to their one-goal lead and quickly booked their place in the round of 16.
Published on July 3, 2026
