The Belly of the Ball: Japan’s 1.88mm World Cup Goal

David King

Japan’s World Cup hopes hinged on a goal that appeared to cross the line—until VAR found the ball’s belly still in play by just 1.88 millimeters. This sports story revisits Ao Tanaka’s controversial finish against Spain and Kaoru Mitoma’s desperate hook back across goal, which first seemed to be ruled out.  See how football’s goal-line rule and an overhead VAR angle changed the decision: the goal stood, Japan won 2–1, and advanced to the next round. A concise soccer explainer about one of the 2022 FIFA World Cup’s most debated moments, ideal for fans searching for Japan vs. Spain highlights, VAR decisions, goal-line controversies, and unforgettable World Cup stories.

Transcript

00:00He desperately stretched out his leg, he hooked the ball back across the goal and

00:03Al Tanaka put it into the back of the net. But Japan's celebrations were cut short as the

00:09linesman's flag went up and the goal was disallowed. It seemed Kaoru Mitoma didn't get to the ball

00:14fast enough and it had gone out before the goal. Japan were devastated. They needed to win this

00:20game against Spain to stay in the 2022 World Cup and without that goal the score was still stuck

00:26at 1-0. But as the video assistant referee kept looking at the footage, they weren't so sure

00:31about the linesman's decision. See in football, a ball isn't out the moment it touches the grass

00:37beyond the line. It's only out once the entire ball has fully crossed the line as determined from an

00:43overhead view. And when the VAR check came in from the one angle that truly mattered, it was determined

00:49that the belly of the ball was still hanging over the line by 1.88mm. The goal stood, Japan won

00:57the

00:57game 2-1 and they advanced to the next round.

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