December 02, (THEWILL) – FIFA says the contentious winning goal scored by Japan over Spain was valid since the entire ball remained in play during the build-up.
The ball looked to have passed the byline before Kaoru Mitoma dragged a cross back into the box for Ao Tanaka’s goal. Initially, the goal was first disallowed, but that call was changed after a protracted VAR review.
The change caused significant controversy because it was challenging to precisely determine the location of the ball in respect to the line due to multiple television camera viewpoints and it was an important goal since it gave Japan a stunning 2-1 victory over Spain, letting them finish top of the group and guaranteeing Germany’s early exit.
On Friday, FIFA explained the validity of the goal on Twitter: “Japan’s second goal in their 2-1 win over Spain was checked by VAR to determine if the ball had gone out of play. The video match officials used the goal line camera images to check if the ball was still partially on the line or not. Other cameras may offer misleading images but on the evidence available, the whole of the ball was not out of play.”
After shocking Spain and the four-time world champions Germany, Japan emerged top of Group E while superior goal difference over Germany meant Spain edged out Die Mannschaft to finish in second place, with Costa Rica taking last place.
As a result, Japan will play Croatia in the round of 16, while Spain will play Morocco.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
