“Cristiano Penaldo” trends as fans cry “Robbery of the Century” after VAR drama sends Portugal past Croatia

Portugal are through to the World Cup quarter-finals but for many football fans, the biggest talking point was not Cristiano Ronaldo’s historic goal or Gonçalo Ramos’ dramatic winner.

It was what happened in the 103rd minute.

Croatia thought they had forced extra time when Joško Gvardiol bundled home a dramatic equaliser after a goalmouth scramble.

Seconds later, celebrations turned to disbelief.

Following a lengthy VAR review aided by FIFA’s Connected Ball Technology, the goal was ruled out for offside, confirming Portugal’s place in the next round and triggering one of the fiercest refereeing debates of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Croatia had taken the lead through Ivan Perišić, putting Portugal under enormous pressure in the Round of 32 clash.

The turning point arrived after Portugal were awarded a penalty following a VAR review for handball inside the penalty area.

Cristiano Ronaldo calmly converted from the spot to register the first World Cup knockout-stage goal of his legendary career, ending one of the few remaining statistical blemishes on his international résumé.

The Portugal captain was later substituted before Gonçalo Ramos headed home what appeared to be the winning goal deep into stoppage time.

Just when Croatia believed they had rescued the match, VAR intervened.

Officials determined that Igor Matanović had made the slightest touch on the cross before the ball reached the offside Mario Pašalić, whose involvement in the move meant the goal could not stand.

The decision relied on FIFA’s Connected Ball Technology, which uses an electronic sensor inside the official match ball to detect even the slightest contact that may not be visible to the naked eye.

The ruling provoked furious protests from Croatian players, while frustrated supporters inside the stadium threw bottles onto the pitch as tensions boiled over.

FIFA later defended the decision, maintaining that the technology confirmed Matanović’s touch before the offside phase of play.

As the final whistle blew, social media erupted.

Ronaldo’s successful penalty immediately revived the long-running “Penaldo” nickname among critics, while thousands of supporters argued Croatia had been denied a legitimate equaliser.

One post read:

“And of course his first knockout goal came from a penalty. Penaldo to the world.”

Another post from an Argentinian fan account read as translated by Grok, " IT'S THE BIGGEST HEIST IN HISTORY, FIFA WANTS PENALDO TO WIN THIS WORLD CUP."

More fans continued to troll the five-time Ballon d'Or winner after his historic goal.

The controversy only intensified as thousands of fans on X began reposting slowed-down, zoomed-in clips of the incident, insisting they could not identify any visible contact between Matanović and the ball.

Many argued the footage contradicted the VAR decision, claiming the ball travelled directly to Pašalić without touching the Croatian forward.

Others questioned how such a microscopic touch could overturn one of the biggest moments of the tournament, despite FIFA’s explanation that the sensor embedded inside the official match ball detected contact beyond what television cameras could clearly capture.

The competing interpretations quickly fuelled one of the most divisive debates of the World Cup.

On X, one user wrote in a viral post as translated from French by Grok, "ALERT: The Croatian player did not touch the ball and Croatia's goal should have been valid. One of the greatest robberies in football history."

One other widely-shared post translated from Spanish read: ""Robbery of the Century": Because the referee checked the ball's pulse and ruled that it was grazed by the Croatian player's hair fibers, which is why they disallowed Croatia's goal against Portugal, ensuring that Cristiano Ronaldo's team advances to the round of 16."

Another viral post read, "He didn’t touch it. Here’s proof. Absolute scandal"

One other user blamed FIFA after the VAR ruling, commenting: "This is not a World Cup. This is an elimination process by FIFA's VAR. It started with Iran. It will not end with Croatia."

Another user reacted with: "Biggest controversy in Football history VAR just casually gave portugal win for Ronaldo to advance How did they miss the ball touch by defender here. Broad daylight robbery"

One other post read, "The Croatian player did NOT touch this ball and the goal should have counted! One of the greatest robberies in World Cup history."

One other user wrote: "We witnessed the Biggest Robbery in the history of World Cup. The ball didn't even touch Croatia 's jersey 20 Matanovic and Portugal defender Renato Veiga changed the direction of the ball. Cristiano Ronaldo will never beat the FIFA Boy allegations"

Another post labelled the incident, a scandal after the full-time result: "This has to go down as one of the biggest scandals in World Cup history."

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić did not hide his disappointment after the match, criticising the officiating while stopping short of blaming the referee alone for his side’s elimination.

The defeat also appears to mark the end of Luka Modrić’s remarkable World Cup journey after an international career that spanned five editions of football’s biggest tournament.

For Portugal, however, the dream remains alive.