relying on a high-tech ball<\/a> fitted with \u201cadvanced sensors\u201d and insists it got it right when determining that Croatia’s Igor Mantanovic got the slightest of glances with his head, meaning Mario Palasic was in an offside position during the buildup to the goal.<\/p>\nThe in-ball sensors were so finely tuned, FIFA said, they were \u201ccapable of determining any slight contact … allowing officials an unprecedented level of data to make fast, accurate decisions\u201d.<\/p>\n
Here’s the science bit<\/p>\n
The official \u201cTrionda\u201d World Cup ball, manufactured by Adidas, is fitted with a \u201csmall inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor\u201d, which FIFA says operates at around 500Hz and captures data 500 times per second.<\/p>\n
FIFA says it can track ball acceleration and granular movements in three dimensions and can detect the exact moment a player makes contact.<\/p>\n
The ball technology is combined with in-stadium cameras for tracking data that is transmitted in real time to video assistants.<\/p>\n
As well as helping to determine offsides, the touch data can also be used for incidents such as handballs and penalties.<\/p>\n
How reliable is it?<\/p>\n
Croatia fans threw bottles on the field and whistled in protest when Mario Pasalic was called offside and VAR disallowed a goal that would have sent the game into extra time. (Source: TVNZ)<\/p>\n
The reason the call was so contentious was that even slow motion replays from numerous angles were visually inconclusive that Mantanovic made contact with Ivan Perisic’s in-swinging cross.<\/p>\n
That is where reliance on the technology came in. Referee Esk\u00e5s was instructed by the VAR to review the sideline monitor. Replays showed what FIFA calls a \u201cheartbeat graphic\u201d to indicate the moment the ball was touched, and there was a clear spike as it apparently grazed Mantanovic’s head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter how fast the ball is moving or the spin of the ball, you can track it really effectively,\u201d AP was told by professor Manos Tentzeris from Georgia Tech’s school of electrical and computer engineering. <\/p>\n
“The position of the ball is 99.99% accurate … you know exactly where the players are, even the tip of a shoe, which sometimes determines if someone is offside or onside.”<\/p>\n
![\"Croatia's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/croatias-luka-modric-10-reacts-to-a-call-as-portugals-bernar-T46VNUD32FC2ZLCWSJOQYDJLIQ.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Croatia’s Luka Modric (10) reacts to a call as Portugal’s Bernardo Silva (10) looks on during the World Cup round of 32 match between Portugal and Croatia in Toronto. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
FIFA also used connected ball technology at the 2022 World Cup, and it was deployed at the most recent men’s European Championship in 2024.<\/p>\n
Tests were carried out from 2020-22 and the technology was trialled at tournaments such as the Arab Cup and the Club World Cup.<\/p>\n
This is not the first time<\/p>\n
The ball sensors also had a decisive impact at Euro 2024 by detecting Denmark’s Joachim Andersen handling in the box against host Germany. After a VAR review, a penalty was awarded, and Kai Havertz scored, and Germany won 2-0.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion, this is not how football is supposed to be,\u201d Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand said after his team also had a goal ruled out by VAR.<\/p>\n
Those sentiments were echoed by Croatia coach Zlatko Dali\u0107 after his team’s painful exit.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll these decisions take the joy out of football,” he said.<\/p>\n
Watch all matches at the World Cup with an event pass on TVNZ+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s called connected ball technology. And it was responsible for one of the most dramatic climaxes to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2966,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-508992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}