MIAMI — FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s push to use technology to eliminate refereeing disputes has had the opposite effect at the 2026 World Cup, where video review decisions have been at the center of nearly every major controversy.
The Video Assistant Referee system, known as VAR, has faced criticism ranging from accusations of overreach and inconsistent application to outright conspiracy theories suggesting it was being manipulated to benefit certain teams or players.
Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan voiced all of those concerns on Tuesday after his team lost 3-2 to Argentina in the round of 16. VAR wiped out an Egypt goal due to a foul that occurred at the opposite end of the field, while a potential penalty call for Egypt went unreviewed. “What’s happening isn’t fair,” Hassan said.
FIFA’s top referee official, Pierluigi Collina, pushed back in a Wednesday interview, defending the decision to disallow the Egypt goal. “There is no defined limit regarding either the distance from goal or the amount of time between the incident and the goal,” he wrote. “We believe that a foul is a foul. Regardless of whether the foul appears ‘obvious’, if the referee did not see it on the field of play, the VAR can intervene.”
VAR was originally created to correct glaring refereeing mistakes — the kind exemplified by Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” handball goal against England at the 1986 tournament. The system was blocked by then-FIFA President Sepp Blatter but was quickly embraced by Infantino after he took charge in 2016.
There were 20 VAR interventions across 64 matches at the 2018 World Cup, and fewer than 30 in the same number of games at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Those figures have already been surpassed early in the 2026 competition, which features 104 total matches.
The increase was intentional. Collina expanded the scope of VAR in collaboration with the International Football Association Board, the governing body for the rules of the game, adding four new areas where the technology could be applied.
Network scientist Brennan Klein, who along with his team at Northeastern University has been analyzing data throughout the tournament, told Reuters that fans have already hit their breaking point. “This kind of dystopian future of over-refereeing everything kind of fails to address what it’s originally designed to intervene on,” Klein said. “My sense is that fans in the stadium, by and large, just hate this. They’ve sort of been informed that this is the right way to do things, but not really had a say in it. I think fans seem to be voting with their boos.”
One of the most debated moments came during the round-of-32 match between Croatia and Portugal. Josko Gvardiol scored in the 13th minute of stoppage time to level the match for Croatia, but VAR ruled the goal out after determining that the ball had made contact with Igor Matanovic before reaching Gvardiol, putting Matanovic in an offside position.
The contact was invisible to the naked eye and the ball’s path did not visibly change, but a sensor inside the ball registered what may have been a touch from Matanovic’s hair. FIFA defended the call on social media, saying the sensor “is capable of determining any slight contact … allowing officials an unprecedented level of data to make fast, accurate decisions.”
Croatian legend Luka Modric, whose 24-year World Cup career ended with the 2-1 defeat, was not satisfied. “For some things it’s useful, but it’s either being used incorrectly or selectively, depending on the size of the team or whatever else,” he said. “If it’s a 200% mistake, then you intervene. If it’s not, if it’s in a grey area, then there’s no reason to get involved.”
The Croatian football federation, which actually supports the use of VAR, sent a formal letter to FIFA requesting an explanation for the decision, describing it as “an abuse of technology.”
Klein noted that red cards have more than tripled compared to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, with 13 issued through the end of the round of 16 — though that came across 94 matches versus 64 in each of the two prior tournaments. At least two of those red cards would not have been given without VAR, including ones shown to U.S. striker Folarin Balogun and England defender Jarell Quansah for fouls the on-field referee missed in real time.
The Balogun red card drew international attention when U.S. President Donald Trump revealed he had contacted Infantino directly to push for the one-match ban to be reversed, citing the “unfairness” of the call. Infantino later said he had no role in the ban ultimately being overturned.
England’s VAR troubles didn’t end with Quansah’s red card. A penalty was also awarded against England captain Harry Kane via video review during their round-of-16 match. Despite those setbacks, England still managed a dramatic 3-2 win over Mexico at the Azteca Stadium.
England manager Thomas Tuchel was furious after the match. “VAR overturns (but) is this a clear and obvious error for the penalty? For sure not,” he said. “They overturned a situation where (the referee) doesn’t even give a foul. Referees just not good enough, fourth officials just not good enough.”
