Croatia were knocked out of the World Cup in dramatic fashion as frustrated fans hurled bottles onto the pitch in Toronto after VAR ruled out Josko Gvardiol's late equaliser against Portugal for offside.
Match Incident Details
The dramatic turn of events occurred when the Manchester City defender netted in the 103rd minute. Gvardiol scored following Mario Pasalic capitalising on a flick from Portugal's Renato Veiga, but Igor Matanovic was judged to have made the initial contact with the ball while his teammate was offside.
What started as joyous celebrations quickly turned to shock as VAR was called into play. Referee Espen Eskas confirmed that Matanovic had indeed touched the ball and consequently, Gvardiol was offside.
Fan Reaction and Match Suspension
Devastated and furious, Croatian supporters began pelting the pitch with bottles and cans in Toronto. The match couldn't resume until the debris was cleared, despite only seconds left on the clock. The pitch was littered with bottles as players reacted to the decision.
Expert Analysis
"It's offside," Matt Upson clarified on BBC. "It doesn't matter if there's another touch from Veiga because of that initial header." Mark Chapman disclosed that ex-referee Darren Cann stated that Matanovic definitely made contact with the ball. "He was offside when the ball was last played by a teammate and the ball was deflected by the defender and not deliberately played, so the offside stands," he read. "Snicko, that 100% proves that he touched it with the flick-on."
Upson, however, was sceptical. "Controversial from my view unless VAR have been looking at an angle we have not been seeing," he commented. "From what I can see, I don't see any change of direction of the ball. What the telling thing is the spin on the ball doesn't change and it looks like Matanovic hasn't touched that ball."
Match Summary and Next Fixtures
Portugal's winning goal came in the 94th minute when Goncalo Ramos netted a clever header from a stunning Rafael Leao cross. Earlier, Cristiano Ronaldo had scored his first knockout stage goal in the World Cup, converting a penalty to level Ivan Perisic's opener. Portugal are now set for a thrilling last-16 showdown with Spain on Monday night.
