Throughout Euro 2024, Spain had looked like the more dominant side. And on Sunday, Spain finished off the perfect tournament run with a 2-1 win over England. That go-ahead goal, though, will haunt England fans for a long time.
Just 13 minutes after Chelsea star Cole Palmer tied the match with a 73rd-minute goal as a substitute, Spain got its late winner by way of a Mikel Oyarzabal tap-in off a brilliantly timed run. In real time, it looked like Oyarzabal could have been offside at the moment of Marc Cucurella’s pass. But VAR confirmed that the goal was good.
Oyarzabal was on by the narrowest of margins. Take a look:
A game of inches 🤏😵💫 pic.twitter.com/utEfpCYWH3
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 14, 2024
Upon the review, John Stones’ knee just barely kept Oyarzabal on side. Unlike the Copa America — which has relied on hand-drawn lines and inconsistent officiating — Euro 2024 has utilized digitally mapped fields for VAR views. So, the offside calls were made to the precise moment.
And as we saw there, that small margin made all the difference.
