2026 World Cup: Croatia's letter to FIFA

06.07.26 FT World Cup

Portugal

0

:

Spain

1

In the round of 16 of this 2026 World Cup, Croatia was denied an equalizing goal against Portugal. In recent hours, the Croatian national team has sent a letter to FIFA to protest the protocol used during the incident.

The Vatreni are still struggling to accept the goal that was disallowed by technology. In its letter, the Croatian Football Federation expressed its "deep disappointment and disagreement regarding the match against Portugal, not because of the refereeing decisions themselves, as these can always be debated after every match, but because of the very process that led to those decisions. First of all, we believe that the VAR protocol was applied completely incorrectly on the penalty awarded to Portugal and that the referee should not have been called to review the video."

"Even more importantly, on Gvardiol's equalizer, in defiance of the rules and the spirit of football, Pasalic was flagged offside for a non-existent intervention by Matanovic, when the sensor indicated otherwise," the federation fumed.

Joshua SOSSOU

Editorfr, en, ar

As a sports fan, and particularly a football fan, I've been putting my writing talent to good use for a number of years now to promote African talent and the continent's football in general. On Foot Africa, enjoy reading each of my lines.

Related teams and leagues

Portugal

Spain

World Cup