Huge VAR controversy at the World Cup as Croatia vs Belgium decision dubbed the 'worst ever'

Fans have been left fuming after an offside call in the Croatia vs Belgium game was branded "the worst ever".

Croatia started the brighter of the two sides in the final Group F clash and thought they had a penalty when Andrej Kramaric was fouled by Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco and a spot-kick was awarded.

Captain Luka Modric placed the ball and was ready to face Real Madrid teammate Thibaut Courtois. However, there was then a lengthy delay as referee Anthony Taylor was instructed to go to the VAR screen.

Officials checked for a possible offside in the build-up to the penalty incident and the semi-automated offside technology found that Dejan Lovren was off by the slightest of margins.

Croatia think they have a penalty, but it's referred to VAR 🎥

The decision is then made that it's actually offside! 👀

🇭🇷 0-0 🇧🇪

🖥📻📱 Watch on @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer, plus follow on @BBCSounds and via the @BBCSport app #BBCWorldCup #BBCFootball

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 1, 2022

It was genuinely one of the tightest and harshest decisions ever seen, with the graphic showing that Lovren was only off by fingertips if anything.

📸 - The official offside image released by VAR. pic.twitter.com/5grpEFywRt

— 𝐀𝐅𝐂 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐗 💎 (@TheEuropeanLad) December 1, 2022

While the call was technically correct, fans are beginning to grow frustrated with the way in which offsides are judged at present.

One user wrote: "What part of the body are they using to measure this? Shoulder?... Do they just randomly determine the most 'shouldery' part or the shoulder?"

Another said: "Scrap the line drawing marginal offsides in favour of the attacking team. It’s for the good of the game. This is so tight it would never have been called offside before the introduction of VAR.Time to tweak the rule."

A third added: "Can players not be level anymore?"

A fourth commented: "If I can’t tell who is offside from this image then it’s probably not offside."

As it stands, despite the controversy, both Croatia and Morocco are heading through to the knockout stages.

Meanwhile, the French FA are reportedly complaining to FIFA after Antoine Griezmann's goal was disallowed despite play resuming.

The IFAB – football's lawmakers – say a VAR check cannot overturn a goal once play has restarted.