At 74', Nigeria scores again!

Nigeria 2-0 Iceland

At 85', VAR awards a penalty to Iceland but they miss.

Nigeria 2-0 Iceland

Full time, and a glimmer of hope for Argentina.

Nigeria 2-0 Iceland

Serbia vs Switzerland is underway.

At 5', Serbia scores!

Serbia 1-0 Switzerland

What a goal by Switzerland!

Serbia 1-1 Switzerland

At 89', Switzerland scores!

Serbia 1-2 Switzerland

Only game I managed to watch today, and one refreshingly free from the "writhe in agony" after every tackle fiasco.
Thought the result just about right overall..........just when it looked like the Swiss were never going to score..........came the rocket shot into the net. It took the Serbian team (and me!) totally by surprise.

I like Switzerland, so I’m happy.

How does everyone feel about the VAR?
FWIW, I'm a definite convert - it does show how often referees get it wrong and we are spared the usual interminable post mortems and "We were robbed" headlines which I always found to be a distraction from the game. Are there any England supporters who don't wish the 1986 Argentina v England quarter-final match had VAR? I still hear references to "La mano de dios" now. Maybe that should be "La mano de diablo"...

I still don't like it.

It is being used for decisions that are given based on opinion. I would rather keep the game simple and leave the points of contention in there. I do like it for anything that is clear cut, like offsides for example. When you are at a game offside decisions are one of the most moaned about things by fans in the stadium (despite the fact that if you are not in line with the offender you simply cannot tell). I'd like to see that eliminated and it is a simple yes or no.

Yesterday we saw Neymar have a penalty claim dismissed when he performed one of the most blatant simulations that I have ever seen. Great, it worked, but video evidence that he threw himself down and he wasn't yellow carded! There are still so many questions? We have some head scratchers too like the Australia penalty against Denmark. There was no way that it was deliberate handball, no way! So because it is being used for an opinion based decision then VAR actually gave Australia a penalty and goal in that game that they should not have had.

As for Maradona, no tech was needed on that day just a linesman capable of helping his Referee. Very clear view from that position but he never flagged. VAR in 1986 would have chalked off Maradona's hand of God and true it is hard to argue against wanting injustices like that overturned but still I'd prefer to go on without. I love the game, faults and all.

Would VAR and goal line technology mean that England never won the World Cup in 66? Or one I actually remember, Spain's goal in the Euro 96 quarter final that was ruled out offside would have stood? I know, I know, I'm not actually trying to argue that we shouldn't use VAR because we have benefitted from poor decisions. By the same token I don't think it's right to advocate it based on emotive incidents.

I do think that, from what I've seen, referees are officiating games slightly differently with VAR over their shoulder too. I think they feel like they should allow things to play out a bit more than usual as it can be reviewed afterwards if necessary? Anyone else feel that? The theory being that if you whistle and stop the play then if you're wrong it is too late for the team to continue with their advantage? So maybe the number of refereeing 'errors' is being contributed to by hat uncertainty? I don't know. Maybe you're just right samak. Overall, I won't lose any sleep over VARs inclusion in my sport. It's not that big of a deal. The game is the same, no better no worse really so I don't mind but if I was the one with the choice of whether to have VAR then we would not have it except for offside decisions and the existing goal line tech.


Here's something interesting though. Anybody know a World Cup moment that was allegedly the first use of 'VAR'? How about the World Cup final 2006? According to Raymond Domenech who was manager of France at the time none of the four officials had seen Zidane's headbutt on Materazzi and he was stood next to the fourth official when he saw the replay of the incident and then alerted the referee as to what had happened and Zidane was sent off. Could be true? I remember a minute or so of total confusion as to what had happened.

Some excellent points!

I was also puzzled why Neymar wasn't yellow-carded and clearly the Australia penalty against Denmark wasn't a deliberate handball.

Still, since this is new, I hope these sort of things will be discussed after the World Cup and addressed appropriately with the right guidelines to referees in future.

Thanks, too kind, I thought I was just rambling on and on.

You're right though, it can only get better, we are in the infancy of VAR so it will get much slicker in time (I hope).

I tend to agree with Chris. I find the ‘acting jobs’ so many players use to draw fouls to be the real distraction. Maybe, if VAR can lessen the number of unnecessary calls, it can change the culture of trying to draw phony fouls.

Bernard’s mention of Maradona’s “hand of God” goal brought back some memories. In 1986 my husband and I had taken our very young children to Disney World during the WC. The kids were none too happy with me when I decided we needed to go back to the hotel for a middle-of-the-day rest, but it was mostly because I wanted to see the Argentina game. So I got to see Maradona’s goal.

Belgium - Tunisia 5-2. That means the elimination of the Tunisians, who suffered many injuries (goelkeeper injured in the first match, two defensive players injured in the second match).

Lukaku joins Cristiano Ronaldo as top scorer, at 4 goals each. Let's see if Kane can keep up with them.

South Korea-Mexico is underway. Vamos Mexico!

Since I had no time for a recap last night, I will post a double recap tonight with my thoughts on VAR as well.

At 25', Mexico scores through a penalty!

South Korea 0-1 Mexico

Ok Eddy, you can breathe now!

Yes!

Second half is underway.

South Korea 0-1 Mexico

CHICHARITOOOOOOO

Mexico scores again. Don’t injure yourself jumping up and down, Eddy.

Yet another game not being shown here. So I am following you.

Come on Mexico.

At 80’,

South Korea 0-2 Mexico