VAR/Officiating and it's performance especially at the 2026 world cup

[Gozie51]

I stumbled on a YouTube video of the world cup titled: Top 5 disallowed goals world cup 2026

So after watching it, I shook my head to wonder if VAR is probably fair to teams, players and gamblers as it were with casinos preaching probably fair to gamers.

What do you think and what is your review about 2026 world cup VAR.

Those were the goals of:

1. Ziko
2. Cancelo
3. Taremi
4. Ronaldo
5. Yamal

https://youtube.com/shorts/dqIwoYn_Gvo?si=_oj65A_pVq0Picvg

[bitbollo]

I would not enter in the specific case you're asking but as a former player of soccer (with discrete results) I couldn't defend this technology in any case
It's already full of interpretation this game (I have a friend that was a good referee in Serie B in Italy).
VAR is just an excuse to avoid to take such decisions IMHO, they just delegate the issue.
Moreover this is one of the worst scenarios ever for a gambler. Even if you are right, they can change the decision on video pure nightmare no more.
It's not matter to choose the right things but what would be later confirmed too.

[Oshosondy]

Are you sure Ziko goal was not counted as goal?

Are you sure Cancelo goal also was not later counted as goal?

Taremi, Ronaldo and Yamal goals are all offsides and not goals, so the way they are disallowed is better.

It is important to know that there can be some mistakes in football. The mistakes are significantly less these time than the old time.

[adultcrypto]

The 2026 world cup exposed the weakness of the VAR system that many people thought was coming to solve the problem of wrong officiating. Without watching the video collection of some of the errors made by the VAR, I already knew some of those incidence because I watch most of the matches. Some of these incidence contributed to the call for the change of leadership of FIFA over poor officiating. Some persons are even suggesting that some of those decisions were due to match fixing but I don't want to go with that idea.

[Mpamaegbu]

Yamal and Ronaldo's goals were clearly offside. It baffled me why the whistle didn't sound until the goals were scored. Most referees do that and to me that's unnecessary waste of time. I'm sure Ronaldo's goal would've counted if he had sent it straight into the net without allowing it bounce on the ground before kicking it. As for the other three, I don't know why their clean goals were disallowed. The only thing I can point at for the refs disallowing those goals would be deliberate mischief. Except the goals were later awarded, which I doubt. Though I didn't watch any of those matches. If it ended that way, those referees should be sanctioned for that.

[Donk1]

​Well VAR was made so that football scores would be more fair and accurate and as well reducing the possibility of a referee making a mistake in a huge match like a World Cup, which would affect sports betting players. Basically without the accuracy of the VAR, by now we would have been seeing situations where the referee can't make accurate decisions like Frank Lampard’s ghost goal for England against Germany in the 2010 World Cup or Maradona's Hand of God goal against England in 1986. If you think about it, back then it would have been easy for a referee to even get bribed just so that a particular team wins, so yeah perhaps VAR really changed the possibilities of such outcomes taking place that's all ...

[Gozie51]

Are you sure Ziko goal was not counted as goal?

Are you sure Cancelo goal also was not later counted as goal?

Yes I'm sure these two goals were not counted as goals based on your question.

The two were disallowed with the excuse of foul from the build up of play before such chances were created that resulted to goal. I believe the VAR and officiating of the last world cup was below average. Nothing stopped VAR to call the attention of the center referee for such infringement but it allowed play to continue until it resulted into a goal. Cancelo's bicycle kick was a very spetacular one.

[Callido]

The most eye-catching VAR decision made which looked sketchy was the Ziko goal against Argentina. We saw a lot of partial decision from the referee in that match and there was no formal review of each VAR decision even after the match. Egypt should have eliminated Argentina in that game and everyone saw that, they were rigged off their win but still won the hearts of people.

Aside this, I think every other goal decision displayed in this YouTube clip was the right decision. You could see clearly that Cancelo, Yamal, Ronaldo and Taremi's goal was clearly offside, no wrong decision there.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

Several decisions by VAR in this year's world cup have been terrible. The German team alone has been robbed several teams thanks to outrageous decisions that nobody could explain or understand.

I mean if those things happen over and over again why do we even use/need this "technology". Just go back to how the game was before. All these delays to check some nonsense that happened 1 minute before the goal are ridiculous. Football is getting destroyed by this in my opinion. Nobody ever asked for this I bet.

[Lucius]

My opinion is that VAR has brought more bad than good to football - because firstly, it breaks the rhythm of the game, often for more than 5 minutes - and secondly, it is used selectively, not objectively in every controversial situation. This means that they directly affect the final result of the match.

Besides, that stupid sensor in the ball detects a hair (Croatia-Portugal match and Croatia's goal disallowed), while on the other hand it doesn't detect the cable of the moving camera above the pitch

VAR would be fair if each team had the right to request a certain number of checks in each match, and the way it is being done now casts doubt on the fairness of the system.

[Agbe]

VAR is a computer and only capture the incident or the action of the players but the final decision is taking by humans and the decision process is the time manipulation and favouritism comes in. VAR captured the action and it would be clear for all that it i not a penalty or offside but the human decision overshadow the VAR video, therefore making football uninterested to fans. Ronaldo and Yamal goal were offside but the rest were not. The use of VAR is good but human has not used it to it real core mandate.

[$crypto$]

Several decisions by VAR in this year's world cup have been terrible. The German team alone has been robbed several teams thanks to outrageous decisions that nobody could explain or understand.

I mean if those things happen over and over again why do we even use/need this "technology". Just go back to how the game was before. All these delays to check some nonsense that happened 1 minute before the goal are ridiculous. Football is getting destroyed by this in my opinion. Nobody ever asked for this I bet.

Sometimes VAR decisions create an atmosphere of controversy, there are more teams at a disadvantage with this technology --- several times saw handball in the penalty box but the referee sometimes did not authorize a penalty despite a VAR check.

Is it me who doesn't know about the legal rules of VAR or is there manipulation behind it? I'm just asking.
I have read but never understood this rule.

[yudi09]

The 2026 World Cup was full of controversy, and I’ll probably always remember it—unless my memory fails me.
Ronaldo’s goal, Taremi’s goal, and Cancelo’s goal were indeed offside when I watched them after replaying the video you shared several times. I’d like to share my thoughts on VAR since its introduction. VAR serves its intended purpose well and fits well within soccer, but the system is still subject to the business interests of the tournament organizers.

[Asiska02]

Since the introduction of the VAR in football, I assumed that there will no more foul officiating again in football and that all teams will receive fair treatment and judgement. There are some instances that a game may require a review but it will not even be reviewed even when the players are complaining in the pitch for a review. Then sometimes, the ones that are not even obvious are being reviewed and we get to see what actually happens which in the larger screen we were not able to see. So it may look like they’re being just and sometimes not just with the officiating using the VAR.

For the goals you posted, the first two clearly shown an offside position of those players even though not too clear, I feel the technology will ascertain it more. While the remaining three, the positions of the offside was clearly shown in the video, which one can’t come to a conclusion about yet. The only thing that baffles me is how those linesmen were able to spot a very close offside position like that in the first two goals in that video without them being informed quickly by the VAR officials.

[Bryan jessy]

These are the disadvantages and advantages of the VAR the judgement is quite different from the fans, imagine this number of disallowed goals, when some fans has already declared few goals to be actual goal and the VAR dictated something totally different, I can not really decide in this case from the angles they are viewing from it could be right and from our angle it might be the opposite of what they are seeing, some fans will judge due to their bias and favoritism for a particular team, so the referees has a favorite team or if the game is manipulated then such judgment is wrong, since the referees has the power to make the final decision.

[Hatchy]

Yamal and Ronaldo's goals were clearly offside. It baffled me why the whistle didn't sound until the goals were scored. Most referees do that and to me that's unnecessary waste of time. I'm sure Ronaldo's goal would've counted if he had sent it straight into the net without allowing it bounce on the ground before kicking it. As for the other three, I don't know why their clean goals were disallowed. The only thing I can point at for the refs disallowing those goals would be deliberate mischief. Except the goals were later awarded, which I doubt. Though I didn't watch any of those matches. If it ended that way, those referees should be sanctioned for that.

I was going to say this because it was definitely an offside goal. The referee probably got carried away or wanted to let the goal stand before making the call. To be honest, the 2026 World Cup had a lot of questionable officiating, with some clear bias from officials, including the FIFA president. So, I'm not surprised about the VAR issue.VAR is supposed to be detailed and accurate, but who knows if they simply give us a reason to believe that those goals were never valid in the first place? Just like the OP said, it is quite similar to probably fair casino games. They give us a reasonable explanation to believe that we are not being cheated. That way, nobody can question the result after the checks are completed.

[Sim_card]

VAR weakness on making sure everything goes properly on the pitch shows that nobody can be perfect even the technology itself. This year world cup was filled with some wrong decisions which is the highest in the history of the world cup. I don't know why proper officiating wasn't FIFA priority.

[Salahmu]

Ronaldo’s goal, Taremi’s goal, and Cancelo’s goal were indeed offside when I watched them after replaying the video you shared several times. I’d like to share my thoughts on VAR since its introduction. VAR serves its intended purpose well and fits well within soccer, but the system is still subject to the business interests of the tournament organizers.

I don't think I watched all the matches that this incidents happened but with what the VAR showed us I think is only on Lami yamal and ziko that wasn't fair because Yamal was on the same position with their opponent so it shouldn't have been an offside, Ziko goal was the most shocking goals they disallowed for offside because he was even behind their opponent defense by the time his team mate passed the ball to him because I couldn't figure out any reason why they felt he was on the offside to disallowed the goal but actually apart from this two, the referee didn't take a wrong decisions on the other ones especially on Ronaldo and Terimi.

[348Judah]

I could remember vividly when VAR was newly introduced, many saw it as the only reason to get the actual scenario of what happened between players, and everything could be verified through the process by rechecking what really went wrong, but some have now lost trust in the entire process because of the time lag that creates the final decision or judgment being made, subject to manipulation.

[Somto9Light]

The VAR is a technology that was initiated to assist the referee but however, it is not perfect or impeccable because they are still human that reviews those situations. It is true that some of the goals that were disallowed by VAR was supposed to be pure goals but sentiment aside, it is not easy for them too because before a goal is disallowed, it is always reviewed multiple times. We are just viewers who is watching the match on screen, maybe if you are actually in the stadium to view those matches live, you might agree with the decision of the VAR. SInce the introduction of the VAR technology, poor officiating has reduced in football so whichever it is, we should dual the difference between when it wasn't introduced and after the introduction then see that a lot of things has changed.