Many England fans believed that Croatia’s second equalizing goal in their 2026 World Cup match should not have been allowed. The reason stems from a bizarre “optical illusion” that caused many to mistakenly think Ivan Perisic was caught in an offside position.
In the Group L match taking place in Dallas (Texas), Perisic provided the assist for Petar Musa to score, completing a beautiful combination that helped Croatia equalize 2-2 right before the halftime break.
Slow-motion replays showed that Perisic was very close to the offside line in the situation leading up to the goal. However, the television broadcast image confused many viewers. England defender Ezri Konsa had a leg behind Perisic, but the position of his orange right foot was quite difficult to spot from the camera angle. It was Konsa’s right foot that kept Perisic level with the last defender and not in an offside position.
One fan commented: “I thought Croatia’s second goal was offside, but it looks like Konsa’s leg or foot in the circle is what kept Perisic onside.” This person was also surprised when VAR checked and made a rather quick decision. Another fan questioned: “How was this situation not called offside for Croatia?”
Meanwhile, another fan incorrectly asserted: “Croatia’s goal will definitely be disallowed because they were offside.”
However, the official image from VAR later showed that only Perisic’s left arm was ahead of the position of Konsa’s foot.
According to current offside rules, the arm is not a valid body part to score a goal with, so it is not counted when determining offside. Therefore, Perisic was still in a legal position, and Croatia’s goal was recognized.
Thanks to this, Croatia leveled the score at 2-2 after a dramatic half in their clash with England in Group L of the 2026 World Cup. In the second half, Bellingham and Rashford scored respectively, thereby sealing a 4-2 victory for England against Croatia.
