During Portugal’s 2-0 victory over Uruguay at the World Cup on Monday night, Adidas confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo did not touch Bruno Fernandes’ cross.
Although television replays were unable to confirm that Ronaldo, 37, had made contact with the ball, he insisted that he touched Fernandes’ delivery to give Portugal the lead in the second half.
After the final horn sounded, Ronaldo—the only male player to score at five World Cups—kept disputing the ruling and appeared irate that Fernandes had been given the goal credit.
However, according to Adidas, who inserted a sensor inside the World Cup ball, no touch from Ronaldo was noticed.
When a player touches the ball, the technology inside the ball can detect it, and video assistant referees are immediately informed of this.
Using the Connected Ball Technology found in Adidas’ Al Rihla Official Match Ball, we were able to conclusively demonstrate that Cristiano Ronaldo did not make contact with the ball during Portugal vs. Uruguay’s opening goal.
According to a statement from FIFA on behalf of Adidas, “No external force on the ball could be measured as shown by the lack of “heartbeat” in our measurements.”
Our analysis is extremely accurate thanks to the 500Hz IMU sensor inside the ball.
Piers Morgan asserted after the game that Ronaldo had texted him to confirm that he had touched the ball.
Fernandes, meanwhile, asserted that he thought Ronaldo connected with his cross.
As if it had been Cristiano’s goal, according to Fernandes, he celebrated.
Although I didn’t see it, it appeared that he had touched the ball, so my goal was to cross the ball for him.
No matter who scores—if it’s one of us or the other—we are both happy for the win.
With one game remaining in Group H against South Korea, Portugal has a strong chance of taking first place.
