From Iran’s stoppage-time winner ruled out by VAR, to Ghana denied a penalty against England – all the controversies. Published On 28 Jun 202628 Jun 2026On-field officiating and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) produced some controversial decisions during the 2026 World Cup group stage – in some cases, the technology played a part at ultimately denying teams a shot at qualification to the knockouts or a vital victory.Al Jazeera takes a look at the five of the most debatable calls in the group stage:Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listVAR rules out Khalilzadeh’s late goal, breaking Iranian heartsOne of the most debatable refereeing calls came in Iran’s 1-1 draw with Egypt on Friday when, in the third minute of stoppage time, substitute Shoja Khalilzadeh’s goal was disallowed after a VAR check.A wild celebration broke out in Seattle Stadium after defender Khalilzadeh spectacularly poked the ball home from close range – a goal that would have sent Iran into the knockouts for the first time – but Iranian joy quickly turned into heartbreak when VAR said Khalilzadeh was offside in the build-up. Replays showed it was a tight call, with Khalilzadeh offside by barely a millimetre. The video replay in the stadium shows Shoja Khalilzadeh #4 of Iran as offside when he scored the second goal, which was then disallowed, during their 1-1 draw with Egypt [Richard Heathcote/Getty Images/AFP]Tight Sanchez offside call deprives Colombia of win over PortugalIn a breathless contest in Miami on Saturday, Davinson Sanchez thought he had secured a stoppage-time win for Colombia over Portugal when, at the far post, he headed home Juan Quintero’s cross. But before Sanchez could reel away to the corner flag in celebrations, the linesman raised the flag for offside. Advertisement Replays of the goal showed Sanchez was offside by a toe, which left Colombians feeling they were robbed of a victory that could have maintained their 100 percent record at the tournament.Ghana denied penalty against England in goalless drawWhile Ghana were lauded for their gutsy 0-0 draw with England on Tuesday, their fans were left wondering: What if we were awarded a penalty? In the 79th minute of the game in Boston, England’s Ezri Konsa …
