Croatia's stoppage-time equaliser ruled out by VAR as fans throw bottles onto pitch against Portugal

Croatian supporters threw bottles onto the pitch after VAR ruled out Josko Gvardiol’s stoppage-time equaliser against Portugal in their World Cup tie, forcing the match to be temporarily stopped.

Gvardiol appeared to have sent the game to a penalty shootout when he converted in the 113th minute, sparking jubilant celebrations among Croatian fans. Those celebrations turned to disbelief when the goal was disallowed — replays showed team-mate Mario Pasalic had touched the ball while in an offside position before Gvardiol finished, with Portugal’s Renato Veiga’s subsequent flick deemed irrelevant to the ruling.

“It’s offside,” explained pundit Matt Upson. “It doesn’t matter if there’s another touch from Veiga because of that initial header.”

The disallowance prompted an angry reaction from Croatian supporters in the stadium, who launched bottles onto the playing surface. The incident caused a delay to proceedings before play was able to resume.

Gvardiol, who plays his club football for Manchester City, had been one of Croatia’s most dangerous outlets throughout the match, and his apparent goal had seemed set to extend a contest that Portugal had been controlling.