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Pierluigi Collina defends the decision to rule out Jonathan Tah's goal that would have sent Germany into round of 16

Collina explains why the goal was correctly ruled out.
Javier Escribano Editor Spain 1 July 2026

Germany was eliminated from World Cup by Paraguay in penalties, but things would have been different if Jonathan Tah's goal in extra time had counted. And it has been argued a lot, because it was ruled out by VAR but not because of offside, but because a German player, Waldemar Anton, made a foul on goalkeeper Orlando Gill, that prevented him to defend properly the goal.

Jurgen Klopp, who many consider as the best candidate to succeed Julian Nagelsmann in the event he is sacked, said in MagentaTV that, if they were to disallow all goals in which the players made a foul on the goalkeeper, Arsenal wouldn't have won Premier League, because "60% of their goals were like that".

A lot has been argued about that goal (and how it mentally affected Tah, who later missed spectacularly his attempt at the penalty shootout). But Pierluigi Collina, head of referees at FIFA, explained that the referee decision (after seeing a replay in VAR) was right, because referees have been instructed to punish incidents when players try to block opponents and make no attempt to play the ball, especially when goalkeepers are involved.

"Although keeping a position is not a foul per se, when an attacking player is not interested in the ball and deliberately moves, even marginally, with the clear intention of obstructing opponents' movement and prevents him from defending, then referees, and VAR when needed, should carefully analyse the incident and intervene", Collina explained.

"This is especially the case when the tactic aims to prevent the opposing goalkeeper from being able to defend the goal. Coaches and players were informed so it should come as no surprise that referees will punish these fouls."

Editor Spain Javier Escribano wrote for Gamereactor from 2024, covering sport alongside video games and world news. His work appeared on the Spanish and international editions.
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