Watch narrowest VAR call in history knock USA out of Women’s World Cup after bizarre Sweden penalty
THE US Women’s National Team were eliminated from the Women’s World Cup following one of the narrowest VAR calls you are likely to see.
An entire 120 minutes of action was not enough to separate the former world champions and Sweden, leading them to a penalty shootout.
And this turned out to be a thrilling back-and-forth encounter, with the pendulum swinging both ways.
But it was Sweden who scored the killing blow in the most dramatic of circumstances.
After Kelly O’Hara had missed the USA’s seventh kick off the shootout, Lina Hurtig stepped up to try and put Sweden into the quarter finals.
The 27-year-old shot towards her left, but US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher appeared equal to it as she dived to her right.
However, Naeher only managed to palm the ball upwards and crucially not over the bar.
As gravity brought the ball down to earth, the backspin saw the ball tumble towards the goal.
Naeher scrambled to claw the ball out of net. And the 35-year-old appeared to have succeeded.
But Hurtig was adamant the ball had crossed the line and could be seen asking the ref to check.
And following a goal-line technology check, the ref declared the ball had crossed the line, sending the Swedish players into pandemonium.
VAR images shown after the shootout showed how incredibly tight the call was, with the ball going over the line by the finest of margins.
The call means USA will not be champions for the first time since 2011, with the Stars and Stripes winning in both 2015 and 2019.
Of the nations left, the only former World Cup winner remaining is Japan.
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