EXPLAINED: Why Ecuador’s 1st World Cup opening goal ruled out by VAR.
The first goal by Ecuador in the opening game of the FIFA World Cup against Qatar in the third minute was ruled out after a VAR check, leaving majority of football fans bamboozled by the decision.
Ecuador looked to have delivered one of the earliest goals that a World Cup finals had ever seen when Enner Valencia headed home amid goalkeeping chaos.
Enner Valencia, receiving the ball off a kick by Felix Torres, headed it into the net to the jubilation of thousands of Ecuadorian fans at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar.
But after consulting the video assistant referees, the goal was ruled out as off-side.
Saad Al Sheeb was all over the shop from the moment that the ball was pumped into the host’s penalty area, sparking confusion that culminated in Valencia finding the back of the net.
Why was Ecuador goal disallowed?
The offside rule states that if the goalkeeper is the second-last opponent and you are behind him, you will be deemed as offside.
However, if there are two players behind the goalkeeper, as seen in this instance, you will only be offside if you are ahead of the second-last opponent. In Ecuador’s case, Michael Estrada (No. 11) was seen ahead of the the line of goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb and the next Qatar player Abdelkarim Hasan Fadlalla.
A similar incident was seen in the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool, when Karim Benzema’s opening goal was ruled out off-side.
