At the Defensores del Chaco stadium, during the 11th day of the South American qualifiers, the Argentine national team took the lead against Paraguay in the 11th minute of the first half thanks to a goal from Lautaro Martínez. Initially the goal was disallowed for offside, but after a thorough review by the VAR, who drew the lines, the goal was validated, albeit with a slight delay.
After a fiercely contested start to the match where neither team managed to impose dominance, despite possession being controlled by the visiting team, Enzo Fernández broke through the local defense. The former River Plate player intercepted the ball in opposition territory thanks to solid pressing and delivered a magnificent lobbed pass to the Inter striker, who finished cleanly opposite the goalkeeper, beating Roberto Fernández.
The Brazilian refereeing team, led by head referee Anderson Daronco, ruled out the goal for offside just as the ball hit the net. However, Rodolpho Toski, the VAR referee, reviewed the sequence and, after almost five minutes, correctly validated the goal. The critical aspect was that a player’s position is not considered offside if his hands or arms are forward, as these body parts are not taken into account when determining a position offside.
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Only body parts that can legally play the ball (legs, head, torso) are considered for offside decisions. Replay revealed that the defender had accidentally played Lautaro into a playing position with his heel, and the only thing marked in the VAR lines was that the player’s hands were in a prohibited position; however, the rules do not include these members when assessing offside.
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