Three disallowed goals and a disputed penalty

Croatia's elimination by Portugal in the Round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup continues to generate repercussions. The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) sent a formal letter to FIFA on July 3, published by the newspaper Sportske novosti, in which it claims that several refereeing and VAR decisions directly influenced the outcome. The organization claims it seeks to avoid future "misunderstandings and injustices," but the controversy does not die down.

The HNS emphasizes that three Croatian goals were disallowed for offside in the second half, which affected the course of the match. Additionally, it questions the penalty awarded to Portugal after a VAR review, despite referee Espen Eskås being close to the play and not initially considering it. For the federation, that technological intervention altered the course of the match.

Gvardiol's disallowed goal

The most controversial moment came in the 103rd minute when Josko Gvardiol scored what seemed to be the equalizer. The action was annulled due to an offside by Mario Pasalic, after a previous touch by Igor Matanovic was detected through Connected Ball technology. FIFA defended the decision, asserting that the ball's sensors detected the contact and justified the sanction.

Critiques of the interpretation of the rule

The HNS questions the application of the regulations, stating that hair should only be considered part of the body if it affects the trajectory of the ball, something that according to the rule only applies in cases of "a large amount of hair." In its letter, the federation states that it "remains unclear" whether the goal was disallowed due to minimal contact or because that contact was deemed to have altered the ball's movement, something impossible to determine with the available footage.

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