Fans think the World Cup is rigged after controversial VAR decision rules out Ecuador goal

Fans have been quick to react to the first VAR controversy of the World Cup as Ecuador saw their opening goal ruled out for offside.

With just three minutes on the clock, Ecuador won a free kick inside the Qatari half.

From the resulting kick, Enner Valencia was found in space to head in the first goal of the 2022 World Cup.

However, after a lengthy VAR check, the goal was ruled out due to offside. But many fans felt Ecuador were hard done by as the replay doesn’t show a clear breach of the offside rule.

The offside has come from.... 👀 #BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/HVsXtyQbmi

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 20, 2022

One fan said: “How was that offside? This is so fixed man!”

Another tweeted: “Christ, if that’s offside then there’s no point watching any of this.”

A third fan added: “Offside apparently. Utterly rigged.”

Someone else commented: “This is called offside after the VAR review. Ladies and gentlemen, Portugal vs Argentina WC final is a fact.”

How is this offside😭 pic.twitter.com/a8EFfrJ1cS

— Kini (@lcfckini) November 20, 2022

'Offside' in Qatar. What a joke 😆 cheating in front of our very eyes #WorldCup2022 #QatarWorldCup2022 pic.twitter.com/t8R1iHv6Kt

— Ronan McGrath (@RonanMcGrath) November 20, 2022

However, the official replay showed that an Ecuador player was offside as his knee was slightly in front of the Qatar defender. It is the worst possible start for a World Cup that has been clouded in controversy due to the host nation’s human rights records.

Ecuador will surely feel hard done by but they should still have the quality to beat Qatar and get their tournament off to the perfect start.