Breel Embolo fell to the ground, marked by Leandro Paredes. Portuguese referee João Pinheiro first booked the Argentine. Then VAR intervened, and that is where the problem began. 🟨
The card that was meant for Paredes ended up in Embolo’s pocket. Second yellow, sending-off, Switzerland down to 10 men in extra time of the quarter-final against Argentina. The score ended 3-1, and Switzerland’s World Cup dream was extinguished that night.
Now, weeks later, IFAB put it in writing: the VAR protocol only allows the identity of the sanctioned player to be reviewed, never the offence to be changed. Pinheiro overstepped. Argentina went through anyway. And Switzerland is left only with an official circular that arrived too late. 😤⚽