Gary Neville slams 'distrustful' VAR call in Switzerland vs Qatar

Switzerland players celebrate Breel Embolo's goal vs Qatar in the World Cup.

Switzerland hold a slender lead over Qatar at the halfway stage of their Group B opener, but is that scoreline deserved?

Despite having plenty of goalscoring opportunities, Switzerland are winning by just one goal to nil at half-time, thanks to a penalty from Breel Embolo.

After just 13 minutes we saw a spot-kick awarded to Switzerland, with Remo Freuler having his legs taken out from under him by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada. Freuler appeared to be offside, but the VAR team stuck with the penalty call and Embolo stuck it away to give the Swiss the lead.

Switzerland penalty call increases distrust in FIFA, says Gary Neville

Referee Said Martinez pointed to the spot after the collision, and while VAR took a long time to deliberate over the decision, they opted not to change the on-field decision.

However, in replays of the incident, none of the usual lines were drawn on the footage to reveal the truth behind the offside debate.

Said Martinez (Image credit: Getty Images)

During the World Cup 2026 game, commentator Lee Dixon was bemused, insisting that, to his naked eye, it looked a certain offside. Still, he was told at the time by referee expert Christina Unkel, that the VAR technology was "incredibly accurate".

But, at half-time in the ITV studio, it was clear Gary Neville was not happy with the decision and the lack of an explanation afterwards.

He said: "Lee said it on commentary, we all think it here… there is a massive question mark over that.

"Why aren't FIFA showing us when there's already such distrust for them? It's a dictatorship this: the idea that they hold this data internally and not show fans, it's absolutely ridiculous."

Unkel was called upon again at the break, and she even seemed to call out FIFA for their lack of clarity and transparency on the matter.

Christina Unkel gave her view at half-time (Image credit: Alamy)

"One of the things that surprises us, with the increased technology and all the players visually 3D-mapped, we thought FIFA would show us these tight calls," she commented.

"It would help with fan trust and credibility," Unkel added. "They usually only shown [those replays] when they change a referee decision, but we have the technology. Why not use the technology they've invested in?"

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