Rooney Questions VAR After Sanchez Goal Is Ruled Out

What happened: BBC Sport reported that Wayne Rooney was unhappy after Davinson Sanchez had a Colombia goal against Portugal ruled out because the defender was judged offside by a toe. Rooney, working as a World Cup pundit, reacted strongly to the decision and questioned the use of VAR in that kind of marginal call.

Watch the highlights:

The confirmed facts are narrow but significant: Sanchez put the ball in the net for Colombia, the goal did not stand, and the offside margin described by BBC Sport was extremely small. Rooney's reaction was not framed as a technical rules dispute so much as a frustration with how VAR changes the feel of decisive tournament moments.

Why it matters: Marginal offside decisions are among the most disruptive VAR interventions because they can erase a goal without any obvious advantage visible in real time. When the margin is described as a toe, the debate quickly shifts from whether the law was applied to whether the law, the technology, and the tolerance level are producing the kind of football spectators expect at a major tournament.

Tournament impact: The source does not provide the final score, group situation, or knockout context, so the wider competitive effect cannot be stated with confidence. What can be said is that any disallowed goal in a Colombia-Portugal World Cup match has immediate tactical and emotional consequences: Colombia lose a scoring moment, Portugal avoid conceding, and the match narrative becomes tied to officiating as much as execution.

What to watch: The follow-up question is whether the decision becomes part of a broader pattern in the tournament. If more goals are overturned for tiny body-part margins, pressure will rise on football authorities to explain whether the current system is meant to maximise technical accuracy or preserve the attacking benefit of the doubt.

Confidence: Confirmed by the BBC source: Rooney criticised the VAR call, Sanchez's goal for Colombia against Portugal was ruled out, and the offside margin was described as a toe. Not confirmed in the supplied facts: the match result, the minute of the incident, the score at the time, and any formal response from officials.