What is ‘Snicko’? The technology used by VAR to disallow Croatia’s equaliser vs Portugal

Croatia were denied a last-minute equaliser against Portugal thanks to the help of some technology known as the Snickometer.

Josko Gvardiol thought he had made it 2-2 in stoppage time, shortly after Goncalo Ramos had come off the bench to give Portugal the lead, only for his goal to be ruled out for an offside on Petar Sucic.

While Sucic was clearly offside, the controversy came from whether or not Igor Matanovic had gotten a touch before it deflected off Renato Veiga.

The 'Snicko' determined that he had, but what is this technology being used?

Those unaware of the technology will now know that the Snickometer is informally known as 'Snicko'.

Commonly used in sports like cricket, the 'Snicko' helps to detect sound waves to pick up if it has made contact with something while watching a replay back in slow motion.

This year's match ball, the Adidas Trionda, contains a built-in microchip capable of detecting when the ball has been touched, which feeds information back to the VAR.

The sensor produces a clear waveform graphic and spikes if it makes contact.

VAR assistant Jarred Gillet spotted a spike and instructed the referee to go to the monitor before disallowing the goal for Croatia.

How long has FIFA been using Snicko?

Snicko has been used at FIFA for well over five years now, first appearing at the 2022 World Cup.

There, the microchip inside the ball helped to record highly accurate real-time data on everything, including ball movement, speed, trajectory, and touches by players.

It has also been used at other competitions such as Euro 2024, but it nowhere near as prominent as the Snicko used in cricket.