World Cup 2026: Was this offside? Technology glitch sparks debate over VAR images in Switzerland draw with Qatar

Was there an offside in the build-up to Switzerland's penalty? Was Switzerland's Remo Freuler offside before he was brought down by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada?

The question remains unanswered despite Fifa releasing images four and a half hours after the incident occurred.

The move led to a penalty, converted by Breel Embolo, in the 48th minute, as the teams drew 1-1 in Saturday's World Cup Group B match in Santa Clara.

Before the tournament, Fifa put a lot of stock in its new, enhanced semi-automated offside system. World football's governing body scanned every player at the World Cup to create unique, lifelike avatars.

It was supposed to provide the most accurate illustration of offside decisions they have ever seen.

However, it did not work and Fifa had to revert to drawing lines to the players and on the pitch.

Fifa released a statement saying, 'a brief technical outage prevented the onside animation graphic from being generated.'

The lines drawn by the video assistant referee (VAR) showed no offside, but the images released were unconvincing. Two images were provided, one for Embolo in the build-up and the other for Freuler before he was fouled by Abunada.

Fifa stated that 'the workflow of the VAR was not affected by this issue and followed the normal procedure in checking the on-field decision.'

The lines used by the VAR to check the position of the relevant players did not show the attacking player to be in an offside position in either of the two situations immediately before the penalty decision.

Gary Neville voiced his criticism of the situation, stating, 'We all think it was offside. Everybody at home thinks it. Fifa are the host broadcaster, and they have the semi-automatic decision that they can show us.'

He added, 'There is a massive question over this because it is offside in my eyes until they prove to me different.'

Delayed decisions create a vacuum that allows conspiracy theories to develop.

Fifa quickly released images for other offside decisions throughout the tournament, including a clear display for Morocco's goal against Brazil.

The semi-automated offside technology has not been flawless. It can be impacted by players being close together or even random factors, such as ticker tape on the pitch.

When the technology fails in the Premier League, there is an option to fall back to the old technology where the VAR draws the lines.

But offside images are typically produced straight away, not hours later.