CROATIA’S dramatic equaliser against Portugal was ruled out – due to technology nobody knew about.
Josko Gvardiol thought he had scored in the 103rd minute to make it 2-2 and send the game to extra-time.
However, the goal was chalked off for offside.
TV replays appeared to show Igor Matanovic missed the ball as he attempted to flick it on.
And that would have meant, when the ball bounced off Renato Veiga, that Mario Pasalic was onside before teeing up the goal.
However, when the referee went to the VAR monitor, there was evidence Matanovic DID touch it.
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That is because there was a spike on the ‘snicko’ tech inside the adidas Trionda used for the 2026 World Cup.
And that was enough to prove Matanovic got a flick on it and therefore enough to rule the goal out – sending Luka Modric and Croatia out and Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal through.
The ‘snicko’ graphic is similar to the tech used in cricket to confirm whether a ball has been edged by the batter or not.
But viewers were baffled that it is used in football.
THE Trionda footballs carry the latest evolution of adidas Connected Ball Technology in the form of an innovative new side-mounted chip system.
The 500Hz inertial measurement unit (IMU) motion sensor chip now sits inside a specially created layer in one of the four panels, rather than as a centre-mounted system held in place by a suspension system.
The addition of counter-balances across the three other panels ensures continued flight stability and balance.
Providing unprecedented insight into every element of the movement of the ball, the technology sends precise ball data to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system in real time – which when combined with player position data and by applying artificial intelligence, helps match officials make faster offside decisions.
Developed in close collaboration with Kinexon, adidas Connected Ball Technology can also aid match officialsin identifying each individual touch of the ball, resulting in less time spent resolving specific incidents, including possible handball.
Source: adidas
One said: “Wait fr? That’s actually insane. Fair enough.”
Another wrote: “For people embarrassing themselves calling a conspiracy this video shows clearly a touch. Snicko graph spikes at exact moment that player gets a touch. Great use of technology but people still want to moan.”
A third added: “What do you think about tech in football? Reckon it’s got a pretty good approval rate in Portugal tonight.”
A fourth commented: “Snicko in football is so funny to me for some reason.”
A fifth replied: “Incredible scenes using snicko to decide an outcome at a football World Cup. I’ve seen everything now.”
And a final user typed: “Game is just completely and irretrievably gone if we are gonna start adding cricket’s snicko technology on top of toenail offsides. This is sport, not a science experiment.”
Incredibly, Ronaldo was actually on the wrong end of the adidas ball technology at the last World Cup.
In 2022, he was denied a goal against Uruguay before there was no spike when he tried to head in Bruno Fernandes’ cross and it sailed straight in.
Croatia went in front through Ivan Perisic just after half-time before Ronaldo equalised from the penalty spot.
He was then subbed off but Goncalo Ramos headed in an injury-time winner before the ultra-late chaos.
Croatia fans were furious at the overturned Gvardiol goal and many launched bottles on to the pitch – prompting a five-minute delay between the ball going in and play restarting.
Fifa later released a statement confirming the technology showed Matanovic did touch the ball.
It said: “According to the data provided by Connected Ball Technology housed within the @adidasfootball Trionda, the official match ball of the @FIFAWorldCup, it was proven that contact was made by Croatia’s #20 Igor Matanović in the build up to the goal against Portugal, allowing the referee to correctly determine offside and disallow the goal.
“IMU sensors housed within the Trionda ball are capable of determining any slight contact, displayed to viewers in the broadcast as a ‘heartbeat graphic’, and allowing officials an unprecedented level of data to make fast, accurate decisions.”
