Wayne Rooney not having ‘mind boggling’ VAR decision in Colombia and Portugal clash

Colombia and Portugal played out a 0-0 draw in their Group K; the South American nation scored in stoppage time, believing they had won the game, only for it to be ruled out for offside.

Wayne Rooney and the BBC panel could not believe that the decision had been made from the images shown by the VAR.

Davidson Sanchez placed a header into the back of the net in stoppage time, with the former Tottenham Hotspur player running off to celebrate before seeing the offside flag being raised.

Images from FIFA and VAR showed that the defender’s toe was offside when the cross was put in the box; however, Rooney, Lucas Leiva, and Micah Richards did not trust the animated images of Sanchez being offside due to the angle shown in the live broadcast.

Goal ruled out by a toe , VAR harsh on Sanchez there
Crazy how now 🙌 https://t.co/3qj8hUbdv2 pic.twitter.com/jfYoLsqOCE

— Guchu (@GuchuBIC) June 28, 2026

Speaking on the BBC in the post-match analysis, Rooney said: “I’m not having that as offside. Even if you look at the pictures.

“It looks onside. It is onside; I don’t care what they are telling me.”

Leiva and Richards were in complete agreement with Rooney, with the former Manchester City star saying: “It is ridiculous.”

While Colombia will be disappointed that they did not secure the win to give them three wins from as many games, they did manage to secure the top spot in the group and will now face Ghana in the next round of the World Cup.

Fans across social media were also in disbelief by the offside decision and the confirmation of it by VAR, with many in agreement with Rooney.

One supporter wrote: “Goal ruled out by a toe; VAR harsh on Sanchez there. Crazy.”

Another added: “The eye test showed that Sanchez's goal was clearly onside. Models have ruined football.”

While a fan said: “How are they showing feet when clearly the Portuguese defender's shoulder is playing Sanchez onside? It's absolutely ridiculous that he's miles onside.”

🚨🚨| THIS LOOKS LIKE THIS COULD BE ONSIDE…. BUT IT IS RULED OFFSIDE BY VAR… pic.twitter.com/9YYL3oOUcq

— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) June 28, 2026

Several supporters made conspiratorial comments on social media about the decision that ruled out Sanchez’s goal and VAR’s confirmation of it.

One fan wrote: “Absolutely not having any of this being ruled offside. Infantino’s guys might even manipulate Sanchez’ toe in the VAR check animation.”

This view was supported by another supporter as they said: “This Sanchez clear goal has just called offside for Colombia against Portugal. We all knew that Ronaldo is a FIFA diva, but we never thought he could rob in broad daylight like this. This is mind boggling.”