In the World Cup, goals are counted separately. But in this tournament, another calculation has to be kept separately.
Match reports and live reports published from the group stage to the last sixteen indicate that at least 29 goals did not make it onto the scoreboard.
Sometimes it’s a millimetre-distance offside, sometimes a foul in the build-up, sometimes a handball, sometimes a decision made with the help of a chip inside the ball… In this way, VAR (Video Assistant Referee) has repeatedly changed the story of matches.
The biggest example of disallowed goals is the Portugal-Croatia match. In that match alone, four goals were disallowed in the last 32 minutes.
Croatia’s three attempts failed to make it onto the scoreboard, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal for Portugal was also disallowed. This is the first time in World Cup history that four goals have been disallowed in a single match, according to British media outlet The Guardian.
The majority of goals disallowed at this World Cup have been offsides. A Reuters report, citing data from the Canadian Premier League, said that as of July 3, 17 offside goals had been disallowed at the World Cup that would have been legal under their experimental “daylight offside” rule, which means that there is no clear gap between an attacking player and a defender.