Video Assistant Referee always causes controversy, and that was no different at Euro 2025. So how were the decisions made, and were they correct?
We rank the decisions from the tournament that may seem odd but can actually be explained.
1. The penalty awarded when the attacker was offside
What happened: Norway were awarded a penalty in the 58th minute when Ada Hegerberg was pulled down inside the area by Italy‘s Elena Linari, with the ball ending up in the gloves of goalkeeper Laura Giuliani. However, Hegerberg was clearly offside as the ball was played, so why did the penalty not get overturned?
VAR decision: Penalty stands, missed by Hegerberg.
VAR review: It’s one of those aspects of the offside law that crops up every now and again — and it’s so rare that it’s always forgotten when it does.
A player in an offside position doesn’t commit an offense until they become active, which is usually by directly engaging with an opponent or trying to play the ball.
The law says: “A player in an offside position is moving towards the ball with the intention of playing the ball and is fouled before playing or attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball, the foul is penalized as it has occurred before the offside offence.”
Hegerberg was waiting for the ball to come into the box and made no attempt to interact with Linari — who wrapped both arms around the attacker. Referee Stéphanie Frappart pointed to the spot, and the VAR, Willy Delajod, agreed that Hegerberg hadn’t committed an offside offence and the penalty stood.
We saw this happen in the Premier League last season when Newcastle United‘s Fabian Schär was held back by AFC Bournemouth defender Adam Smith. Schär was in an offside position, but there was a VAR intervention to award a spot kick.
The law is still subjective, however. The day before Norway were awarded a penalty, men’s team KF Shkëndija had a spot kick canceled against the New Saints in a Champions League qualifier on VAR review when Imran Fetai was ruled offside after being pulled down. The incident was very similar to that of Hegerberg, yet it yielded the opposite result.
Penalty awarded to Norway! 🇳🇴👀
Chance to bring the match level from the spot… pic.twitter.com/XUjpkiMSPl
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 16, 2025
2. The offside decision that left everyone confused
What happened: Alessia Russo thought she had given England the lead against France in the 16th minute, but there was a VAR check for a possible offside in the buildup.
VAR decision: Goal disallowed.
VAR review: The animation used by FIFA and UEFA is a vast improvement on the old software (we’ll get a reminder of this later on), but it’s still not perfect — especially for such marginal decisions.
The virtual offside line was shown to be drawn to the hip of France’s Grace Geyoro. For a very short time some small red highlights indicated that Beth Mead‘s upper arm and toe were offside. Yet it was very difficult to determine this from the graphic.
That was confusing enough, yet when the animation moved directly in line, Mead was completely obscured by Geyoro. It seemed to make no sense to players and fans.
In the Premier League, the animation doesn’t move fully in line with the players, yet that also isn’t completely clear. It’s done because there’s a small tolerance level built into the software to account for the tightest decisions, whereas with all other leagues with semi-automated offside technology if you’re offside, then you’re offside. Mead would likely have been ruled onside in English football.
These marginal offsides do look horrible, and there was another on the opening day of the tournament when a Switzerland penalty was canceled against Norway because Alayah Pilgrim‘s toe was ahead of the line.
A look at the goal that was ruled offside for England 🏴🚫 pic.twitter.com/EH50hLWSXq
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 5, 2025
3. The offside when a defender headed the ball
What happened: England thought they’d scored a third goal in the 50th minute when Russo netted, but the assistant’s flag went up. The ball had been headed by Netherlands‘ Sherida Spitse to the offside Leah Williamson in the buildup, so why didn’t the VAR intervene?
VAR decision: No goal.
VAR review: It’s about what the lawmakers call a “deliberate play.” That’s confusing, because of course Spitse was trying to head the ball, it didn’t just hit her. The law intends this to mean a “controlled play,” so the defender must have ample chance to make a clearance — simply messing it up would be an error with the expectation of a controlled outcome.
In this case, the assistant judged that because Spitse was stretching to try to get her head to the ball, where it ended up (with Williamson) was accidental and not a consequence of the defender’s actions. The offside is not reset by Spitse’s touch; Williamson remains active and commits an offside offence when she becomes involved in the play.
We saw it at the men’s Concacaf Gold Cup a couple of weeks earlier. Mexico‘s Santiago Gimenez thought he had scored a winner against Costa Rica four minutes into stoppage time, but it was ruled out by VAR. Giménez was offside from the original pass, which was then headed to him by a defender on the stretch.
SANTI’S INCREDIBLE SCISSOR KICK IS RULED OFFSIDE! 🚫
NO GOAL FOR MEXICO! 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/NMsXCS9hGD
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 23, 2025
But it’s still subjective. In January 2023, Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Toti Gomes tried to stop a pass by Liverpool‘s Cody Gakpo but only headed it to Mohamed Salah, who scored. The VAR decided that Toti’s action was controlled, which reset the phase and meant Salah was onside. The goal stood.
4. The never-ending penalty review
What happened: Denmark were awarded a penalty in the seventh minute when Madelen Janogy stumbled into Denmark captain Pernille Harder, with referee Edina Alves Batista pointing to the spot. It was checked by the VAR, Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins.
VAR decision: Penalty canceled.
VAR review: This was one of the longest VAR reviews at the tournament, which were generally completed in good time.
It took well over four minutes for the decision to be made, with Batista needing an age to watch replays of the penalty she’d given. The VAR should have made sure this was faster by concentrating on the trip by Denmark’s Stine Ballisager Pedersen, which caused Janogy to fall into Harder.
“We didn’t understand anything at all,” Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson said afterward. “We didn’t see it on the [stadium] screen.”
The VAR output certainly wasn’t obvious when shown on TV, but it was the correct outcome to (eventually) penalize Pedersen.
5. The goal disallowed when the attacker didn’t touch the ball
What happened: France took the lead against Germany in the 57th minute when Geyoro scored on the rebound after Ann-Katrin Berger had parried an effort from Marie-Antoinette Katoto. However, after a VAR review, Maëlle Lakrar was deemed to have impacted Berger from an offside position.
VAR decision: Goal disallowed.
VAR review: Even though Berger had made a stop from Katoto’s effort, that didn’t reset the offside phase.
When the ball came loose, Lakrar moved into the area where the ball was — and importantly where the goalkeeper would go. This meant Berger had to rush her attempt to get to it, and only parried it to Geyoro.
Lakrar’s presence had to have an impact upon Berger’s decision making, so it was always going to result in a VAR review to disallow the goal.
Belgium had a goal ruled out in similar circumstances against Portugal, an offside committed by Sari Kees that prevented Fátima Pinto from being able to stop the ball going into the net off Amber Tysiak.
After review, the goal is ruled offside for France pic.twitter.com/C9efUn8LpX
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 19, 2025
6. Even UEFA’s high-grade SAOT can fail
What happened: Diana Silva equalized for Portugal in the 80th minute, but there was a VAR check for offside.
VAR decision: Goal disallowed.
VAR review: It took nearly three minutes to disallow the goal, and it left many wondering what had happened to UEFA’s super-fast semi-automated offside technology (SAOT). Yet even this isn’t infallible when there’s a cluster of players together.
Famously, when English football first utilized SAOT on a trial basis in March, in an FA Cup tie between AFC Bournemouth and Wolves, the check took over eight minutes (partly because the tech couldn’t distinguish between players, and also because there were two handball checks). The VAR had to resort to the old-school software.
The same thing happened in this game, with the VAR having to ditch SAOT and draw the lines to show Silva was offside from the ball into the box.
After review, this goal was ruled offside for Portugal pic.twitter.com/lQyixn1F3m
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 7, 2025
7. The double-touch penalty retake
What happened: In the Euro 2025 final, Beth Mead stepped up to take first penalty of the shootout. The England player slipped as she was about to kick the ball, but it still looped into the net. However, while Mead celebrated the VAR, Willy Delajod, checked for a possible infringement.
VAR decision: Penalty retaken, Mead’s effort saved by goalkeeper Cata Coll.
VAR review: When Mead lost her footing, she kicked the ball onto her standing foot — and a penalty taker can only touch the ball once. If this had happened just a few weeks ago, that first effort would have simply gone down as a miss with no retake.
But in March, Atlético Madrid were furious when Julián Álvarez had a spot-kick effort disallowed in very similar circumstances as Real Madrid then advanced from the round-of-16 tie in the UEFA Champions League.
UEFA released a statement the day after the game which said it accepted the VAR had no choice but to disallow the penalty, but it would make representations to football’s lawmakers to make a change.
It’s so often the case that it takes a high-profile incident for a law to be tidied up, and that’s exactly what happened with Álvarez. Rather than an accidental double touch being a miss in all cases, it’s now a retake if the ball goes into the goal. However, if Mead’s first kick had been saved or missed, there would have been no retake.
Not that it truly mattered in this case, because Mead missed the retake anyway.
8. Another VAR red card for a hair pull
What happened: France had a free kick in the 10th minute that was headed away by a defender. Shortly afterward, it became apparent there was a VAR review going on in the background for an offence by Kathrin Hendrich. What was it for, and what decision would the VAR give?
VAR decision: Red card for Hendrich; penalty, scored by Geyoro.
Germany’s Hendrich is sent off with a red card for hair pulling pic.twitter.com/rtBovStdAZ
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 19, 2025
VAR review: It’s one of those incidents that would be missed without VAR, and it has to be said it was a great spot by Jarred Gillett and Sian Massey-Ellis.
Hendrich grabbed the hair of Griedge Mbock as the France player moved to the flight of the free kick. It caused her head to jerk back, a clear indication that Hendrich had committed an act that under the laws is considered violent conduct.
Because the ball was in play, the incident was penalized where it took place. As that was in the Germany area, a penalty was awarded to France.
We’ve seen this more regularly in recent seasons, especially with Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella, who had his hair pulled, leading to red cards for Southampton’s Jack Stephens and Paris Saint-Germain‘s João Neves.
Hendrich was in shock when the red card came out, but referee Tess Olofsson had no other option.
9. The free kick that became a soft penalty
What happened: Georgia Stanway was on the ball just inside the penalty area in the ninth minute when she went down under a challenge from Carrie Jones. Referee Frida Mia Klarlund Nielsen gave the foul, but she awarded a free kick just outside the area.
VAR decision: Penalty, scored by Stanway.
VAR review: The first aspect for the VAR, Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins, was the factual element about where the foul took place. It was pretty clear that Stanway was just inside the box when the contact from Jones happened, so that’s a factual upgrade to a penalty; there’s no need for the referee to go to the monitor.
However, it was on the soft side, so should the decision to give a foul have been overturned? Stanway seemed to stand on Jones, rather than the Wales player directly cause the trip. File this one under a penalty that wouldn’t have been given on VAR review, but also wouldn’t get overturned, either.
Penalty awarded to England! 🏴 pic.twitter.com/TfgXb3xEXV
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 13, 2025
10. When the chip in the ball saved Denmark
What happened: Germany were awarded a spot kick in the 37th minute when the referee ruled that Frederikke Thøgersen had stopped Klara Bühl‘s cross with her hand. The position of the infringement was checked by the VAR.
VAR decision: Penalty canceled.
VAR review: UEFA and FIFA use what they call “connected ball technology” at major tournaments, which in simple terms means there’s a chip in the ball that can detect when it has been played.
This was used to prove the ball touched Thøgersen’s hand when she was outside the area, with a “heartbeat” chart used to show when the offense happened.
11. The perfect block move … almost
What happened: Svenja Fölmli headed Switzerland in front in the 29th minute, but as she was running away celebrating, Iceland‘s Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir was on the floor claiming a foul. It was checked by the VAR.
VAR decision: Goal disallowed.
VAR review: It was a clear blocking move by Fölmli, who stopped Vilhjálmsdóttir and barged her to the ground.
It left Fölmli with a completely free run; unfortunately, there was no way her excellent-but-deflected header was going to stand after a VAR review.
12. The challenge that left Russo furious
What happened: France scored their second goal of the game in the 39th minute, but Russo was adamant she had been fouled by Lakrar, which resulted in France taking possession just before the goal. The VAR took a long look at the incident.
VAR decision: Goal stands.
VAR review: Referee Tess Olofsson came in for much criticism (from those following England) for her performance, but this wasn’t going to lead to an intervention.
It was a long review, with VAR Christian Dingert looking at the challenge from several angles. Lakrar got her heel to the ball as she stretched into the challenge, and that was just enough to stick with the on-field decision of no foul, and a goal.
