Carlos Tevez offside goal — wrongly allowed
What happened
In the 26th minute Carlos Tevez received a pass and was clearly in an offside position — approximately one metre ahead of the last Mexican defender. The linesman did not flag. Tevez scored. Television replays immediately showed the clear offside. Argentina went on to win 3-1. The incident was widely cited as one of the worst officiating errors of the 2010 tournament — a tournament that produced multiple high-profile mistakes and accelerated the discussion around technology in football.
Why the law says so
Offside is judged at the moment the ball is played by a teammate. A player is offside if any part of their body that can score is closer to the opponent's goal line than both the ball and the second-to-last defender. Tevez was clearly past the last defender when the ball was played. The linesman's angle may have been poor but the margin was significant. With modern semi-automated offside technology this would be flagged automatically and instantly.
Key factors
- ✓Tevez was approximately one metre offside when the ball was played
- ✓Not a marginal call — clear and obvious error
- ✓Linesman was in a poor position or made a misjudgment
- ✓Semi-automated offside technology would flag this instantly today
- ✓One of several high-profile errors at the 2010 World Cup
- ✓Directly led to increased pressure on FIFA to introduce VAR