FIFA have sought to clarify the controversial decision made in Thursday night's World Cup clash between Spain and Japan.
Japan eventually emerged as shock 2-1 victors, booking their place in the knockout stages of the competition in the process. However, there was confusion and outcry in some quarters regarding the Samurai Blue's second goal.
Replays initially appeared to show the ball had gone out of play before being crossed to Ao Tanaka, who bundled home from close range. A lengthy VAR review deemed that the entirety of the ball had not crossed the byline though, with the goal subsequently ruled valid.
READ MORE: Why the Japan goal that knocked Germany out of the World Cup was given
The moment has triggered plenty of fierce debate and there was confusion on ITV's broadcast of the game, with Graeme Souness, Gary Neville and former referee Peter Walton all unsure as to why a conclusive camera angle had not been provided by FIFA of the incident.
A day on, world football's governing body released a statement and an accompanying video on social media.
"Japan’s second goal in their 2-1 win over Spain was checked by VAR to determine if the ball had gone out of play," read the caption. "The video match officials used the goal line camera images to check if the ball was still partially on the line or not.
"Other cameras may offer misleading images but on the evidence available, the whole of the ball was not out of play."
Japan's win saw them qualify for the second round at Germany's expense, who were eliminated despite a 4-2 win over Costa Rica on the same night.
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