A 14-gram chip saved Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Did you touch the ball?

"Honestly, I felt my hair slightly touch it. I asked the referee what it was. I wasn't sure if I touched the ball. He told me the ball has a chip, there was contact, and then it was offside. That's it," said Croatian player Matanović.

On July 3rd Beijing time, in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Portugal came from behind to beat Croatia 2-1.

In the 12th minute of stoppage time, Croatia, still trailing, scored a goal, triggering celebrations throughout the team.

However, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system then intervened, and due to offside, the referee disallowed Croatia's goal. The final decision was made by a motion sensor chip weighing only 14 grams, embedded in the match ball.

A touch invisible to the naked eye

Replays showed that Matanović did not touch the ball when attempting a backheel pass. If that were the case, then the subsequent assist by Mario Pašalić would not have been offside, and Joško Gvardiol's equalizer should have stood.

But Norwegian referee Espen Eskas saw more on his monitor. The VAR system brought up a graphical interface resembling audio waveforms, dubbed "Snicko" by fans.

It showed a clear peak at the moment Matanović's head approached the ball. This peak came from the touch signal of the Trionda's built-in sensor, proving that his head did make an extremely slight contact with the ball.

This touch was invisible to the naked eye but directly changed the ruling. After the touch occurred, the passing moment was re-timed, and Pašalić was in an offside position at that instant.

FIFA confirmed the decision in a post-match statement. The statement said: "According to data provided by the Connected Ball Technology built into the adidas Trionda, Matanović had contact during the goal against Portugal, enabling the referee to correctly determine offside and disallow the goal."

Coincidentally, this smart ball that "saved" Cristiano Ronaldo had also put him at a disadvantage before.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Portugal faced Uruguay. Ronaldo attempted a header from Bruno Fernandes' cross, and the ball went directly into the net.

Ronaldo initially celebrated the goal, but the match ball equipped with Connected Ball Technology recorded no touch peak, proving his hair did not make contact, and the goal was ultimately credited to teammate Fernandes.

"Tech" Ball

The "tech" ball made its public debut at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, named Al Rihla (by adidas). The official ball for the 2026 World Cup is the Trionda, also from adidas.

Compared to Al Rihla, the most significant improvement of Trionda is that it moves the 500Hz Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) motion sensor chip from the center of the bladder to the panel sidewall for the first time, and adds a balancing weight to ensure the chip does not affect the ball's flight stability and balance.

An IMU is an electronic sensor that measures an object's specific force (linear acceleration) and angular rate (rotational motion) in three-dimensional space. By combining accelerometers and gyroscopes (and often magnetometers), an IMU can track an object's orientation, velocity, and trajectory.

The IMU captures the ball's motion data 500 times per second, tracking its acceleration and subtle movements in 3D space in real time. The panel structure has been upgraded and refined to four fluid panels, optimizing aerodynamic performance.

IMU Motion Sensor Chip Schematic Source: @NOTHING

Additionally, Trionda has pioneered specialized climate testing for the different humidity, altitude, and temperatures of the 16 host cities, making its adaptability far superior to Al Rihla, which did not undergo such differentiated testing.

This system, developed by adidas in collaboration with German sports tech company Kinexon, is called Connected Ball Technology. It sends precise ball data in real time to the VAR system, combining it with player position data, and using AI analysis to help referees determine the moment of contact faster and more accurately.

This technology can be used for offside rulings and also helps referees identify every touch of the ball, reducing the time spent resolving specific incidents, including possible handball situations. FIFA commented that this ball "gives referees a volume of data that was completely unimaginable in the past."

At World Cup matches, over a dozen connected balls are prepared. When one ball goes out of play, another is immediately brought in, and a dedicated person monitors each ball's battery level on a central screen.

Using a wireless charging base, it takes about 2.5 hours to fully charge a ball from zero. Once fully charged, the design battery life is up to 6 hours.

To ensure the chip-equipped match ball feels the same as a training ball without a chip, the development team conducted over 300 lab tests with chips, ensuring they are identical in balance, feel, rotation, and flight trajectory.

Adidas Vice President of Performance and Operations, Tor Sosaide, said in an interview: "The most important thing is the accuracy and predictability of the ball's flight. To regular fans, this is just like ordinary technology; it iterates, develops very fast, and has made great progress over the past four years."

"It's not a science experiment"

This ruling at the 2026 World Cup caused a stir among fans.

Some lamented, "Using Snicko to decide results in a football World Cup is unbelievable," while others countered, "The Snicko chart clearly shows the contact; complaints are completely unnecessary."

More debate centered on the boundary between technology and sports. One fan wrote: "If we add Snicko technology from cricket on top of toenail offsides, this sport is irreversibly ruined. This is sports, not a science experiment."

This concern about technology eroding the joy of the game itself is not limited to fans.

Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has also publicly complained that the problem with VAR is not the concept, but the execution. "You score a goal, and you don't even know if you should celebrate. It kills the joy of the game."

After the match, 41-year-old Ronaldo became the first player to participate in six consecutive World Cups and have playing time in all of them.

Meanwhile, Modrić and Croatia's "Golden Generation" bid farewell to this World Cup stage, witnessed by a chip.

Source: Tencent Technology

Risk Warning and Disclaimer

        Market risk exists, and investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it consider individual users' specific investment goals, financial situations, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their particular circumstances. Investment based on this is at your own risk.