Video Assistant Referee technology made its major tournament debut at the World Cup in Russia in 2018 and is there are VARs at screens for the 104 matches that will make up this summer's competition.
World Cup 2026 is set to break a host of records due to its sheer size alone. It has more officials than ever before, and 30 of the 170 assigned officials (including Omar Artan) are in the United States, Canada and Mexico specifically for VAR duty.
With a probable record number of red cards triggered by no fewer than three in the opening match between Mexico and South Africa, the VAR appointees are bound to be busy.
Is there VAR at World Cup 2026?
VAR has proliferated throughout the football world since its early deployments in the KNVB Cup and the Club World Cup in 2016.
Its first intervention in a World Cup match in 2018 came in the group stage between France and Australia, with Les Bleus awarded a penalty to set them on their way to a second World Cup win.
World Cup 2018 was the first competition anywhere in the sport to use VAR in all of its matches. By the time it was applied at a second World Cup in Qatar in the winter of 2022, the technology was everywhere and familiar to all fans of club football.
As ITV refereeing analyst Christina Unkel outlined before an opening fixture with no shortage of involvement from Colombian VAR Nicolas Gallo, World Cup 2026 boasts a sweeping list of updates to the Laws of the Game and VAR is at the centre of several of them.
VAR officials can now intervene to overturn incorrectly awarded corner kicks in cases of clear and obvious errors, as long as the restart is not delayed as a result.
They can also review second yellow cards that are shown, offering a potential reprieve to players dismissed for two bookable offences. VAR can also get involved to recommend disciplinary action before the ball is in play from set pieces.
Perhaps the most tangible development of all is that assistant referees will receive a real-time audio notification from the semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) system when a player is more than 10cm offside.
In theory, there will be no more instances of the offside flag not being raised for obvious offside calls, with SAOT still acting as the ultimate arbiter for the tighter decisions where the flag is delayed.
What do you think of the VAR updates for the World Cup? Let us know below...
