Bottles and cans rained onto the pitch in Toronto after Croatia were denied a stoppage-time equaliser against Portugal in a World Cup knockout match that descended into chaos. Josko Gvardiol thought he had forced extra time when he slotted home in the 113th minute, but a VAR review ruled the goal out for offside, sparking fury among Croatian supporters.
The Manchester City defender capitalised on a flick from Portugal's Renato Veiga, but the officials judged that Igor Matanovic had touched the ball first with his teammate in an offside position. Referee Espen Aspas clarified the decision: Matanovic touched it, making Gvardiol offside. The game was unable to restart until the deluge of debris had been cleared, despite only seconds remaining on the clock.
“Croatian fans threw bottles after VAR ruled out Josko Gvardiol's stoppage-time equaliser against Portugal in Toronto.”
"It's offside," explained Matt Upson on BBC. "It doesn't matter if there's another touch from Veiga because of that initial header." Mark Chapman revealed that former referee Darren Cann said Matanovic definitely touched 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," Chapman read. "Snicko, that 100% proves that he touched it with the flick-on."
But Upson was not convinced. "Controversial from my view unless VAR have been looking at an angle we have not been seeing," he said. "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."
The dramatic ending came after a pulsating match that had already seen three goals. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal in the knockout stages of the World Cup from the penalty spot to cancel out Ivan Perisic's opener for Croatia. Then, in the 94th minute, Goncalo Ramos scored a creative header from a spectacular Rafael Leao cross to put Portugal ahead. It proved to be the winner.
Portugal now face Spain in the last 16 of the tournament, while Croatia are left to wonder what might have been.