It’s been called one of, if not the biggest VAR decision in World Cup history. Whatever you call it, it was one that left Croatia heartbroken and Portugal thanking its lucky stars.

This comes after FIFA invested years developing tools that combine player tracking, artificial intelligence and ball sensors to reduce human error in crucial moments.

Croatia's VAR-disallowed equalizer vs Portugal at the 2026 World Cup sparked activity in fan tokens and Polymarket prediction markets.