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VAR was never supposed to steal the show.
It was supposed to improve the game.
Instead, with just four matches remaining in the World Cup, the video assistant referee has become the tournament’s most polarizing figure, its loudest talking point and, depending on which country you ask, its greatest villain.
The best stories of this World Cup were supposed to be about Messi’s quest to repeat, Spain’s artistry, France’s dominance or England trying to end a 60-year drought. But too often the narrative has been about a referee staring into a monitor before pressing his finger against an earpiece to deliver a verdict from a room filled with television screens hundreds of miles away.
The technology was created to eliminate clear and obvious mistakes. Instead, it has created endless arguments over microscopic ones.
In many ways, VAR has done exactly what it was designed to do.
New technology has correctly overturned goals that should never have counted. Using dozens of tracking cameras and connected-ball technology, FIFA has identified offsides by inches, toes, and fingertips with remarkable accuracy. By the letter of the law, those decisions have been correct. They have also produced some of the tournament’s most heartbreaking moments.
Iran thought it had scored a stoppage-time winner to reach the knockout stage before a toe ruled Shoja Khalilzadeh offside. Croatia believed it had rescued its World Cup against Portugal until VAR detected a ball grazed the hair of Igor Matanovic. A celebration that should have lived forever instead disappeared after a two-minute review.
VAR has corrected major mistakes, reduced accusations of referee bias and increased accountability in matches carrying the weight of entire nations. Few would argue against overturning an obvious offside goal or correcting an intentional dive.
But soccer has always lived in its imperfections. Human error has long been part of its drama and greatest moments. Remember Maradona’s “Hand of God” or Frank Lampard’s “Ghost Goal?”
Those moments would have been forever changed by VAR as the sport of soccer now debates hair follicles, camera wires and the force of contact in slow motion rather than with the naked eye.
Some reviews are necessary. Others change the outcome of a game entirely.
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During Switzerland’s quarterfinal defeat against Argentina, Breel Embolo received a second yellow card for simulation just minutes after his team had leveled the score and stolen all the momentum.
“Football did not come out on top today,” said Swiss manager Murat Yakin. “We suffered from a referee mistake. … The VAR and the rule is just unnecessary. It’s unfair.”
The new mistaken identity rule allows FIFA to review simulated dives under VAR authority. In Embolo’s case, it was likely ruled correctly. However, such plays happen countless times during a match, and if every player were booked for exaggerating a challenge, the game would be ruined.
Instead of the conversation centering on Argentina reaching its seventh semifinal, it was about the reigning champions becoming the beneficiary of yet another favorable VAR decision.
Egypt manager Hossam Hassan accused FIFA of injustice after his team’s controversial Round of 16 elimination against Argentina. Four-time champion Germany was eliminated in the Round of 32 after Jonathan Tah’s extra-time winner was erased by VAR. Ghana never received what should have been a clear penalty in its upset bid against England, and Belgium advanced past Senegal thanks to the opposite.
But the biggest VAR debacle was Folarin Balogun’s red card against Bosnia-Herzegovina that sparked international headlines, political debate, FIFA appeals, President Donald Trump’s involvement and Belgium’s furious objections after the suspension was lifted ahead of its Round of 16 match. Belgium used it as motivation in its 4-1 hammering of the U.S., even trolling the country by celebrating with Trump’s signature dance and a tweet reading: “OVERTURN THIS!”
VAR went from influencing matches to driving the global news cycle.
The controversies have become so intense that FIFA altered its own review procedures in the middle of the tournament, moving from a centralized operation in Dallas to placing dedicated VAR officials inside every remaining stadium.
FIFA head of refereeing Pierluigi Collina defended the integrity of match officials while condemning conspiracy theories and personal attacks, but the governing body clearly recognized confidence in the system needed reinforcing.
Ironically, all of this has been tremendously good for business.
Every disputed review dominates the headlines, trends across social media and fuels debates from London to Buenos Aires. Every controversy keeps the World Cup firmly at the center of global conversation.
Love it or hate it, VAR has become soccer’s ultimate reality show.
Now, with only four matches remaining, the top four teams in the FIFA world rankings could see their fate decided by a referee on a headset watching a monitor rather than the greatest players in the world creating their own legacies on the pitch.
English (US)