FIFA hasn’t replied yet to requests for the VAR audio from the World Cup’s most talked-about moment.
It’s been said that FIFA hasn’t responded to an official request to share the VAR audio from one of the most talked-about moments in the 2026 World Cup. Many fans and teams have raised their eyebrows at the refereeing in the tournament. For example, the Egyptian Football Association was really upset after their 3-2 loss to Argentina, especially since one of their goals was disallowed after a VAR review. They even called for the referee and the entire crew to be kicked out of the World Cup because of these mistakes. The Egyptian officials complained about what they saw as clear errors and the refusal to look at some footage again, which prompted FIFA’s Chief Refereeing Officer, Pierluigi Collina, to respond officially.
But Egypt wasn’t the only team unhappy with the decisions. Croatia, who lost to Portugal in the round of 32, had their own drama. Goncalo Ramos scored a last-minute winner in the 94th minute. Then, in the 103rd minute, Croatia thought they had tied the game when Josko Gvardiol scored. Unfortunately for them, after a long VAR check, the goal was ruled offside. This came down to a tiny touch detected by sensors inside the Adidas Trionda ball from Croatia’s Igor Matanovic, which meant another player, Mario Pasalic, was offside. Matanovic said the touch was barely noticeable, just “slight contact with my hair.” Because of this, the goal was taken away.
FIFA explained that the ball’s sensors, called Connected Ball Technology, can spot even the tiniest touches. According to FIFA, this helps referees make quick and accurate decisions. But even a week later, Croatia is still upset about how it was handled. Stipe Pletikosa, the Croatian Football Federation’s technical director, shared his thoughts on the situation and said that their president, Marijan Kustic, hasn’t received any reply after asking FIFA to release the VAR communications about the disallowed goal. They also claimed that VAR rules weren’t followed during a penalty against them and that the sensors were misused in the Gvardiol goal incident.
In an interview with RTL, Pletikosa said, “We have overcome feeling inferior when playing big teams, and I hope in future our results will be decided only by our own performance. The day after the Portugal match, President Kustic sent a strong letter to FIFA asking to see VAR conversations about that controversial chip, but we haven’t heard back. FIFA has stopped protecting football like it used to. Mistakes by referees are normal and part of the game, but things like the hydration breaks, the sensors, and long delays have gone too far, making the game less protected. I’m surprised the people at FIFA don’t react to these issues.”
SPORTbible has reached out to FIFA for a comment.
After these events, Zlatko Dalic stepped down as Croatia’s manager. He had led the team to the World Cup final in 2018 and a third-place finish four years later. He’s been replaced by Slaven Bilic, a former player and manager, who is returning to lead the team again after managing them between 2006 and 2012.