The 2018 World Cup round of 16 matches Sunday have failed to produce a winner in regular and extra time, so both were decided by penalties. Football fans around the world saw seven incredible kicks from the spot saved by goalkeepers. Some watchful viewers, however, noticed that goalkeepers often broke the rules. 15 times out of 19, goalkeepers left their goal lines before the ball was kicked, which is not allowed and "illegal" according to FIFA's rules. Russia's Igor Akinfeev, Denmark's Kasper Schmeichel and Croatia's Danijel Subasic — who saved at least two penalties each — broke the rules multiple times, while Spanish stopper David De Gea left the line prematurely only once, failing also to save a single penalty. Ideally, the referees should have ruled for a retake of the spot kicks, but for some reason decided not to enforce the rule. Russia stunned Spain in the first round of playoffs by securing a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes and then winning on penalties thanks to Akinfeev's two saves. The penalty shootout between Denmark and Croatia turned into a "battle of goalies" in which Subasic prevailed with three saves against Schmeichel's two.<doc-sep>T he Video Assistant Referee system was brought in for the first time at the 2018 World Cup. Designed to help guide match officials at the tournament on potential game-changing decisions - such as incidents in the build-up to goals or penalties, as well as straight red cards or cases of mistaken identity - it was not long before the new system found itself under the spotlight in Russia. Here is a look back at five examples of how VAR was used to try to get to the right decision. Australia pay the penalty (AP) / David Vincent/AP France benefited from a controversial first use of VAR technology at a World Cup as they beat Australia 2-1 in their opening Group C match. Antoine Griezmann put Les Bleus ahead with a contentious second-half penalty in Kazan. Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha initially played on following Joshua Risdon's challenge on Griezmann before pointing to the penalty spot after consulting VAR and viewing a screen next to the dugouts. Kompany's tangles with Jesus AP With five-time champions Brazil trailing 2-0 in the quarter-final against Belgium in Kazan early in the second half, Belgium defender Vincent Kompany appeared to have brought down Gabriel Jesus, his Manchester City team-mate. Referee Milorad Mazic, though, pointed for a goal-kick rather than a penalty, before a review was made to the VAR, Daniele Orsato. REUTERS Despite the Brazil appeals, the decision stood, as debate continued over the amount of contact and whether the ball had gone out of play. As Brazil later chased what would have been an equaliser, Neymar threw himself to the floor after a challenge with Thomas Meunier, but once more the officials were not interested. Ronaldo in the spotlight AFP/Getty Images Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo was, as usual, centre stage against Iran in Saransk during the final round of Group B matches on June 25. Leading 1-0, the European champions were awarded a penalty after 51 minutes following a VAR intervention after referee Enrique Caceres had initially given nothing when Ronaldo went down under a clumsy challenge from Morteza Pouraliganji. Ronaldo, who saw his spot-kick saved, was again subject of a VAR review later in the match after swinging an arm at Pouraliganji off the ball - but was eventually shown only a yellow card. EPA In stoppage time, VAR was used once more to award Iran a controversial penalty for a harsh handball against Cedric Soares. Karim Ansarifard converted, but Portugal had done enough to progress out of the group. Aspas holds his line REUTERS On the same night in Kaliningrad, Spain were trailing Morocco 2-1 in stoppage-time and looked set to finish as runners-up before substitute Iago Aspas flicked the ball into the net, only for the offside flag to go up. However, a subsequent VAR review showed the Celta Vigo forward was indeed level, so the goal stood. The draw was enough to see Spain top the group and go on to face hosts Russia in the last 16. Holders crash out AFP/Getty Images Needing a winner to scrape into the knockout stage, holders Germany thought they were given a lifeline in their final Group F match when Kim Young-gwon's stoppage-time goal was initially ruled out for offside. However, following a VAR review, American referee Mark Geiger changed his mind after replays showed Toni Kroos got the last touch before the ball fell to Kim. REUTERS<doc-sep>FIFA’s Referees Committee on Wednesday selected 17 referees, 37 assistant referees and 10 Video Assistant Referees (VARs) for the final phase of its 2018 World Cup, holding in Russia. Pierluigi Collina, the committee’s head, told reporters in Moscow that this was because the number of referees at the 32-day competition has to be reduced at this point in time. “The number of referees has been reduced in view of the number of matches left and the teams that have qualified for the next round. “We have only eight matches left and only eight teams left also. “These are in the quarter-finals (four matches), the semi-finals (two matches), third-place or losers’ final (one match) and final (one match). “Only eight matches are involved in this number of matches also. “So, there is, therefore, a need for a reduction in the number,’’ the former Italian referee said. The 17 referees picked for the next phase include Malang Diedhiou (Senegal) and Janny Sikazwe (Zambia) from the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Others are Alireza Faghani (Iran) and Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain) from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). From the Confederation of Central American and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) are Mark Geiger (U.S.), Jair Marrufo (U.S.) and Cesar Arturo Ramos (Mexico). Also retained for the competition are Andres Cunha (Uruguay), Nestor Pitana (Argentina) and Sandro Ricci (Brazil) from the Confederation of South American Football (CONMEBOL). From the Oceanic Football Confederation (OFC) is Matthew Conger (New Zealand). The rest are from the European Football Association (UEFA), namely Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey), Bjorn Kuipers (The Netherlands), Antonio Mateu (Spain), Milorad Mazic (Serbia), Gianluca Rocchi (Italy) and Damir Skomina (Slovenia). Ten VARs were also picked to continue on in the competition. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 36 referees and 63 assistant referees were selected in March for the competition, with 13 VARs. They were picked from the 53 groups of three referees placed under FIFA’s radar for the competition since September 2014.<doc-sep>BJORN KUIPERS was the official referee for today's World Cup game as England beat Sweden 2-0 and that's not his only job .. The 45-year-old could be richer than some of the players on the pitch as it's revealed he is a multi-millionaire of supermarket chain. 4 Kuiper is a real success story in Holland and he still combines working in his shops with refereeing. Credit: Getty - Contributor Kuipers owns a multi-million-pound chain of supermarkets across the Netherlands called Jumbo. Born in Oldenzaal in 1973, Kuipers, studied business at university. Kuipers' personal wealth was estimated £11.5million back in 2016 and he earns in between £2-3million every year in profit alone. It's reported he earns enough money from his refereeing and rarely pays himself from the supermarket profit. Fans go CRAZY as England’s Dele Alli scores vital goal in World Cup clash with Sweden 4 Björn Kuipers speaks to Ashley Young during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Quarter Final match. Credit: Getty - Contributor 4 Sergio Ramos appeals to match referee Björn Kuipers during Spain vs. Russia. Credit: Getty Images - Getty However Kuiper is also the son of an amateur referee and wanted to follow in his father's footsteps into football. Kuipers has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2006 and a UEFA Elite official since 2009. 4 This will be Kuipers second World Cup after his appearance in Brazil 2014. Credit: Getty Images - Getty The Dutchman is no stranger to the England team either as four years ago he was in charge when they lost to Italy in Brazil. However Kuiper officiated the England under 20s World Cup final victory over Venezuela last year. Today's result saw England beat Sweden 2-0 to progress into the semi-finals of the World Cup, the first time in 28 years.<doc-sep>
MOSCOW-A debatable penalty awarded with the use of FIFA's new video replay system proved a turning point in the World Cup final on Sunday, July 14, and raised more questions over whether the new technology is being used in the way it was originally intended. France and Croatia were level at 1-1 in an evenly contested match when Argentine referee Nestor Pitana was alerted to a possible handball and, after checking the off-field screen, he decided Croatia's Ivan Perisic had handled. listen live watch live Antoine Griezmann converted the penalty and France went on to win 4-2. Even after the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, it remained a highly contentious call. The incident arose when Griezmann drove in a corner and, as Perisic jumped with Blaise Matuidi, the ball made contact with the hand of the Croatia winger. Whether it was deliberate, or whether Perisic's hand was in an unnatural position was not clear, even after repeated viewing of the incident. The VAR protocol says that a review should only take place to correct a "clear and obvious error" but that did not seem to the case here, as the question of whether Perisic had handled the ball was a marginal call and open to interpretation. In fact, VAR has already been used in several other situations during the tournament which did not seem to meet the "clear and obvious" criteria, suggesting world governing body FIFA is giving it a bigger role than previously announced. Sunday's decision also took longer than FIFA may have liked. Initially, there was confusion as the referee received information through his earpiece from the VAR officials but the crowd was not informed of anything. It only became clear that a penalty was being considered when Pitana drew a television symbol in the area and "VAR review" was flashed on the scoreboard. There was further confusion as Pitana looked at the pitchside monitor, went onto the pitch, then turned back to have another look. The use of VAR was approved by FIFA in March after a two-year trial. It is generally considered to have been a success at the World Cup, as FIFA president Gianni Infantino proudly declared on Friday, but other federations are not so sure. European soccer governing body UEFA will not use it in the their Champions League club competition next season and it will not feature, either, in England's Premier League. Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic made his feelings clear, saying: "I don't talk about refereeing decisions but I will say this one thing: In a World Cup final, you do not give such a penalty."