Jordan and Argentina in group J is the second game at 2026 WC for Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs.
Match #70
Group J
28 June 2026, 04:00 CET
AT&T Stadium, Arlington
JORDAN - ARGENTINA
Referee: Istvan Kovacs ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Mihai Marica ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Ferencz Tunyogi ROU
Fourth Official: Dahane Beida MTN
Reserve AR: Jerson Emiliano Dos Santos ANG
Video Assistant Referee: Bram Van Driessche BEL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Fedayi San SUI
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Marco Di Bello ITA
Many doubts to be honest if the free kick leading to Argentina’s opener (and the consequential YC) was correctly awarded. JOR#20 seemed to have played a clean tackle clearing the ball (17’)
ReplyDeletePenalty for Argentina after OFR. Leg to head contact is obvious, but I think no penalty could also be supported since head was very low.
ReplyDeleteSo a high foot in the penalty area by the Jor defender. Jor late and even though the ARG player clearly lowered his head, it was a clear foul.
ReplyDeleteMissed on field, called for an OFR. Very bizarre announcement for me, almost non-chalant and weak. Maybe he realized how much he should have seen it on field & a big mistake. Maybe reflecting on missed opportunities later in the tournament?
Maybe some new directions after that missed penalty from a high foot a few days ago?
Kinda sad announcement of Kovacs.
ReplyDeleteKovacs made the announcement, though very clear, in a very mechanical and sad way, with no conviction or emotion. You can really believe that he feels not at the best maybe given how he is managed, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAnd now, after Ecuador - Germany more OFRs? This was not similar, but...
Agree
DeleteBeside his fitness and being close to action,
ReplyDeleteIstván Kovács seems like he doesn’t care at all, he just wants to go home. Fair enough, considering he got two of the most meaningless group stage games. Even his body language when awarding the penalty sent a clear message, he wasn’t there to impress anyone. Fair enough.
I think Kovacs went into this World Cup lacking motivation following the fallout from his mistake in the Barcelona vs. Atlético Madrid match, as well as his being sidelined for the remainder of the European competitions that season.
DeleteIn fact, I mentioned here last month that the Romanian would likely be assigned low-profile matches. And that is exactly what happened.
I'm sorry but that's never a penalty for me. Jor defender had every right to go to the ball with his foot, Arg attacker was the guilty of dangerous play as the ball was at kicking level. If it had been a kick from him, and then this contact, would it have been a penalty? Definitely not. So why should we see it as a penalty just because he used his head at this low level?
ReplyDeleteI expect play on.
It's way different than Ger Ecu, where the ball was clearly at heading level and should've been a foul.
Don’t compare to the GERvECU non penalty. However I would say it seems like a different use of VAR since that non-interventio
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