Modric criticises VAR: 'It hurt us throughout the match against Portugal'

Hırvatistan's experienced captain Luka Modric strongly criticised the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system after their 2-1 defeat to Portekiz in the 2026 FIFA Dünya Kupası qualifiers. Speaking at a press conference after the match, the star player stated that the VAR system negatively affected his team in this critical match and changed the course of the game. Modric explicitly expressed his belief that referee decisions were constantly against them throughout the match and that this situation largely poisoned the team's chances in the tournament. Following the defeat which saw Hırvatistan eliminated from the tournament, he argued that the use of technology caused more problems rather than ensuring justice. He sparked debate by noting that football is inherently prone to errors, but that technological interventions like VAR create new injustices rather than rectifying these errors.

When looking at the events on the pitch in more detail, it is striking that the decisions from the VAR room drew the most reaction from Modric and his teammates. In particular, moments such as potential penalty situations not being examined or offside decisions being upheld on the grounds that they were not in their favour caused great anger in the Hırvatistan camp. The Hırvat player emphasised that the decisions taken in the match were not merely a technical error, but a factor that broke the spirit of the team and disrupted strategic moves during the game. The technical staff also believe that the arbitrary attitude of the referees and VAR was the main factor in losing the match, rather than the performance shown by the team while building up play. He added that such decisions are unacceptable in a professional environment and that transparency must be ensured in a global tournament.

The 2-1 defeat against Portekiz is a situation that requires not only the evaluation of the group's status at that time but also Hırvatistan's overall performance in the tournament. Although the team impressed critics with their performance at the beginning of the tournament, this early elimination in the round of 32 went down in history as a result below expectations. The technical director and players stated that they did not get the reward for their fight in the match and felt that their hands were tied, especially by the unfair decisions of the VAR. With this defeat, as Hırvatistan made an early exit from the Dünya Kupası, it once again sparked a debate in the international arena about how effective these technological applications will be in the future format of the tournament. Following the events in this match, the football public continues to question the way VAR is implemented.

Luka Modric, with this outcry, represented not only his own team but also other teams that complained about VAR throughout the tournament. Modric, known as a veteran of world football, stated that the way technology is integrated into the game is more questionable and that erroneous decisions need to be managed better. He also emphasised that these events do not align with the spirit of football and that external factors should not harm the struggle while players do their best on the field. He argued that they understood why the VAR application was initiated with good intentions, but the current application has deviated from its purpose and deepened the problems. While these statements alleviated the pain of Hırvatistan's early departure from the tournament to some extent, they left question marks in the minds of football fans.

FIFA officials and referee councils faced a wave of intense criticism regarding VAR decisions throughout this tournament. Modric's statements added a new dimension to these criticisms, reinforcing the call for the re-evaluation of technology use in football's biggest organisations. Hırvatistan's elimination from the tournament went down in history not only as a sporting result but as a concrete example of how technical and technological errors can lower the quality of the game played. Pressure will increase for systems to work more transparently and accurately to prevent similar scandals in future tournaments. Modric's harsh outburst reignited debates on justice and transparency in the football world, creating an important civil voice regarding the way sports are managed.