Croatia was knocked out of the World Cup in a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Portugal in the 2026 FIFA World Cup’s round of 32 on Thursday night in Toronto.
It appeared that Croatia’s Josko Gvardiol had delivered one of the most dramatic equalizers in World Cup history, 12 minutes into stoppage time.
However, the goal was disallowed due to an offside ruling after a VAR review determined that the ball touched the head of Croatia’s Igor Matanovic before the goal.
Here’s what the Croatia (disallowed) goal looked like with Derek Rae on the Fox play-by-play call. ⚽️🎙️ #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/rswf6yIhj2 https://t.co/aPHVoGXRWy
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 3, 2026
A dramatic would-be-tying Croatia goal is disallowed due to offside after VAR review, as it looked on the Fox broadcast.
Portugal wins 2-1. #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/C3plCHfvVu
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 3, 2026
A tough way for Croatia’s 2026 FIFA World Cup to come to an end pic.twitter.com/0jLL1xixoq
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 3, 2026
Rather than being in a 2-2 tie with the chance to advance to the round of 16, Croatia’s World Cup run ended just minutes later.
Here’s a look at how the sports media world reacted to the stunning turn of events:
Croatian First Take is gonna do numbers Friday.
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) July 3, 2026
Incredibly, they will also blame LeBron. https://t.co/7T94Y9gBOx
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) July 3, 2026
Hosted by Scott Var Pelt… https://t.co/bnIYrJ3KcA
— Steve Levy (@espnSteveLevy) July 3, 2026
He 💯 touched it but are we saying the Portuguese defender didn’t deliberately try to head it?! 🤨🤷🏼♂️🥶🤫 pic.twitter.com/fQOd1Pc93l
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) July 3, 2026
“The sensor is the reason why that goal was disallowed… I do think it was the correct decision.”@ChrisWittyngham and @marcelobalboa17 break down Croatia’s last-minute disallowed goal 🤏 pic.twitter.com/Gefh6YoD5X
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 3, 2026
VAR and its variants across all sports exist out of a goal to eliminate mistakes by getting every call right.
Even if I think the call in the Croatia match was correct, it’s clear that no replay system can accomplish that goal or even bring us meaningfully closer to a world…
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) July 3, 2026
This was WILDDDD. So much fun to watch https://t.co/53ewotv8oB
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) July 3, 2026
I DON’T UNDERSTAND: FIRST, how was Croatia allowed to score the potentially tying goal with beyond the allotted 10+ minutes of stoppage time??? Do refs just guess or let the trailing team have 1 more possession? Insane time-keeping.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 3, 2026
I DON’T UNDERSTAND: SECOND, why was Croatia’s goal disallowed by what looks like a phantom touch of hair that triggered offsides??? A chip on the ball detected … hair??? Insane. But I guess Portugal survived by a hair.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 3, 2026
VAR sucks. Clear no doubt worst thing about this World Cup has been VAR.
— James Seltzer (@JamesSeltzer) July 3, 2026
This is a wild new feature- the chip in the ball graph that shows when it gets touched. the NBA is gona have this asap pic.twitter.com/3fSixXuhob
— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) July 3, 2026
Heartbreaking for Croatia. Three goals, including two for Croatia, overturned by VAR. Tough way to go out for Luka Modric, an absolute legend.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) July 3, 2026
how long until people complain that VAR is too good?
— Anthony Dabbundo (@AnthonyDabbundo) July 3, 2026
VAR ruins another World Cup game.
— Ben Heisler (@bennyheis) July 3, 2026
While it’s a very unfortunate way for Croatia to go out, Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal will gladly take a World Cup knockout-stage win any way they can get it.
CRISTIANO RONALDO TIES IT UP FOR PORTUGAL!
Derek Rae has the play-by-play call for Fox. ⚽️🎙️ #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/MXWYBGdeEe
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 3, 2026
WHAT A GOAL FOR PORTUGAL FOR THE LEAD!
Derek Rae with the call for Fox. ⚽️💥🎙️ #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/YXGeR0Z5Dm
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 3, 2026
Portugal moves on to face Spain in the round of 16 on Monday at 3 p.m. ET in Arlington, TX.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.