Dont feel bad for Germany. If they had beaten Spain it would be them moving on.

So some interesting commentary on this, but ultimately there are some birds eye views that give a good answer.

I guess the entire ball has to be out, including the 'fat' part of the ball, not just the part of the ball in contact with the grass.

Obviously the entire contact patch is OOB, but the contact patch isn't the entire ball - high angle views of the ball show that the fat part is still in contact with the white line if the line were to be drawn vertically up into the sky (as the rule is technically written).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fi7Ba9BW...jpg&name=small

Amazingly, I think they might have gotten that one right.

Good explanation. :thumb:

If any part of the ball is breaking the plane of the line it is still in play.

It's really pretty damn incredible. I mean we're talking the width of a couple slips of paper. Maybe. That's what decided if Germany or Japan advanced.

When Costa Rica was ahead, Spain definitely wasn't throwing their game. However, I can see your argument after Germany took a comfortable lead. If I'm Spain, I'm not making much effort to score there at the end.

Yeah, I should have been more verbose. I'm still working on my succinct/obnoxious ratios.

I'm versed in the rule, MoF it was one of the first demonstrations in my referee certification class way back in the early 90s. Instructor put the ball almost exactly where it is placed in that overhead shot on a simulated pitch in the classroom, and had us all inspect it before going over the rule.

That's likely as close of a ruling as is possible even in today's tech world.

My shrug was more to indicate how close the call was and how difficult it could be to get a better angle [which fortunately it appears they did], more than to question the call outright, or suggest it was wrong.

Your observation that, even if it was completely right, it was a LITERAL paper-thin margin is apt.

I suspect I'm babbling at this point so I'll stop.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">After their shocking win against Germany, Japan fans stayed after the match to clean up the stadium.<br><br>Respect ❤️�� <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNFC</a> <a href="https://t.co/ocDtsyXXXB">pic.twitter.com/ocDtsyXXXB</a></p>&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1595445069472886785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Happy for Japan and their fans. They have by far the most wholesome fans in the world.

Yes, the whole of the ball has to cross the line. The technology is pretty amazing, though we’ve seen things like this in tennis for some time.

Some football fans actually don’t like this level of precision, but at least in cases like this where it’s literally a game of an inch, it’s nice to know what really happened.

Hentai notwithstanding.

The 3-game sample size is a balanced schedule (round robin), whereas qualifying isn't. If one team can beat the doors off some rummy in the group stage, then the other teams should be able to as well. (IMHO as a soccer novice)

I have refereed a couple of adult mens games that had teams that were Japanese immigrants. Some barely spoke english at all. Very fun games to ref. They play balls to the wall, if they happen to take an opponent out they come back, help them up and make sure they are OK.

I think our analysts had a really good counter argument to Japan's 2nd goal.

I get the rule, and from the angle I agree, that ball wasn't out. HOWEVER - like our analyst pointed out, the view was "inconclusive" and therefore they went with the call on the field. However, what was the call on the field? If you watch the replay, Japan is throwing their hands in the air and stop celebrating because the AR has his flag up.

So if we think of this like American Football, you need clear evidence that the ball was inbounds, yet their response was "inconclusive" and then called it a goal. If you're gonna say it's inconclusive and go with the call on the field, how is that a goal? It's like American Football, they go with the call on the field if the replay can't overturn the decision on the field. Same concept here, no?

The head ref can wave off the line though. Nothing the line calls is automatic. When they see something, they'll raise the flag, but the ref has the power to ignore it too.

No I understand that, but isn't that why all the Japan players stopped celebrating after the call? Didn't the ref waive off the play?

Ok So I just rewatched the highlights. The Mid referee doesn't make a formal call, and they say the AR's flag went up then down, then up then down. So what was the on field call? The ref went straight to his ear piece while also pointing at the AR in the clip.