How does 'Snicko' work at the World Cup? Why Croatia didn't score against Portugal due to VAR technology

Croatia were unhappy with the performance of Snicko technology at the World Cup when their goal was disallowed by the video assistant referee (VAR). Josko Guardiol seemed to save the team by scoring a goal in the 13th minute of added time to level the score with Portugal - 2:2. However, the decision concerned the participation of Ign Matanov in the attack, who tried to reach the ball with his head. If he had touched the ball, the goal would have been disallowed; if not, then Guardiola's finish should have been counted. A video check showed uncertainty: Matanov was not clearly seen to have touched the ball, but referee Espen Escas soon saw a spike on the Snickometer technology and canceled the goal.

Snicko allows you to determine whether the ball has been touched - spectators of cricket, where this technology is used more often, are familiar with the peaks in the sound wave that help the umpire decide whether the ball has hit the bat. Similar technology has been introduced into football at the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 European Championship, as well as at this tournament. FIFA says the Adidas Trionda ball has a chip inside that can detect touches, allowing real-time data for each contact to be transmitted to VAR. Given the use of technology, once a touch was detected and the Croatian was offside, the goal had to be disallowed - although Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic believes VAR went too far.


“I won’t comment much on this, but I will say that the refereeing was very bad,” Dalic said. “No fouls, no set pieces on our part, which should have happened, but this is not a reason to talk about defeat. The refereeing was very bad. You could see how emotions were killed and all these decisions take away the joy of football."

Successful Portuguese coach Roberto Martinez had a different opinion. “It’s a shame that one of the two teams had to lose,” the Spaniard said. “But there was neither a bad nor a good decision here. It was a clear moment. Now the balls have a chip in them and a sensor shows that the ball has been touched.” Portugal will face Iberian neighbors Spain in the round of 16.

---

Related Articles

1. Mundial 2026
2. 2026 November 2026 32 November 2026 ਅੱਗੇ ਵਧਨ ਦਾ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਕੀਤਾ