World Cup: Referee Bizarrely Cancels Penalty Because of Offside

• Fans were left confused by a bizzare incident during the Croatia versus Belgium game
• Croatia received a penalty in the first half, but the decision was bizarrely overturned
• Belgium needed to beat the 2018 World Cup finalists to qualify for the tourney last 16

Fans were left with loads of questions on Thursday, December 1, after a strange refereeing decision during the Belgium-Croatia game.

The crunch Group F clash between the two heavyweights had everything at stake for qualification into the last 16, with Belgium needing a win to progress.

For Croatia, they only needed a point in the game, provided Morocco beat Canada in the other match.

In what was a fairly dull first half that was devoid of goalmouth action, the game sparked to life thanks to an incident.

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After an initial big header from Belgium’s Jan Vertonghen, Yannick Carrasco challenged Andrej Kramaric late, and referee Anthony Taylor had no choice but to point to the spot.

Initially it looked like a soft penalty, but there was contact on Kramaric and the penalty was warranted.

However, Croatia did not get the chance to take the spot kick as the referee reviewed the build-up to the foul on Kramaric.

After a review on the monitor, Taylor called play back for offside, and boos instantly rang all around the stadium.

Premier League legend Jermaine Jenas, who was on commentary duty for BBC, was among the people who criticised the call.

“This is so confusing. I thought offside was just decided by the technology. Why has he gone over? Is it to check for a foul? The pictures look like it's to check for offside. Why aren't they just telling Anthony Taylor in his ear: it's offside; it's not a penalty.”

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Morocco strike early against Canada

In the other group stage game, Hakim Ziyech of Morocco scored the fastest goal of the Qatar World Cup so far.

The North African side went into the encounter knowing a win or draw would see them qualify for the Round of 16.

The Atlas Lions took the lead in the fifth minute, as Chelsea player Ziyech scored a beautiful long-range effort for his team.