Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almiron argues with referee Danny Makkelie during the 2026 World Cup Group D opener between the United States and Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium on Friday. [AFP]
Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almiron argues with referee Danny Makkelie during the 2026 World Cup Group D opener between the United States and Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium on Friday. [AFP]

Video assistant referee review was used for the first time at the 2026 World Cup to determine whether a referee had booked the wrong player, during the match between the United States and Paraguay.

Referee Danny Makkelie used VAR during the Group D opener at Los Angeles Stadium on Friday to overturn a yellow card issued to US defender Tim Ream and instead book Paraguay's Miguel Almiron. It marked the first time VAR had been used to correct a case of mistaken player identity at a World Cup.

The incident occurred in the 50th minute, with the United States leading 3-0.

Almiron went down and tumbled out of bounds near the right end line of the US penalty area while challenging Ream for the ball during a breakaway attempt.

Makkelie judged Ream to have committed a foul and immediately showed him a yellow card, awarding Paraguay a free kick.

As Paraguay's free kick came to nothing, Makkelie communicated with the video review room and halted play.

He called Ream and Almiron over to explain the situation, then ran to the pitchside monitor for an on-field review.

After watching the replay and confirming that Ream and Almiron had made no contact whatsoever, Makkelie rescinded the caution given to Ream and instead booked Almiron for attempting to deceive the referee, correcting the call.

The tournament expanded the use of VAR this year to ensure fairer officiating.

Previously, VAR applied only to four categories: goal situations (whether the ball crossed the line or a player was offside), penalty kick decisions, direct red card offenses (red cards for serious foul play or unsporting behavior, not accumulated yellows), and disciplinary target identification (flagging a player the referee missed). At this tournament, VAR can also be used to review and reverse a decision when a player receives a yellow or red card but the foul was in practice committed by a different player.

In addition, VAR support is now available for clearly incorrect corner kick decisions and for second-yellow-card dismissals.

“첫 경기 승리 한국, 월드컵 32강 진출 확률 93%”

“첫 경기 승리 한국, 월드컵 32강 진출 확률 93%”

[헤럴드경제=조용직 기자] 2026 북중미 월드컵 첫 경기를 승리로 장식한 홍명보호가 32강 토너먼트에진출할 확률이 93%라고 해외 매체가 내다봤다. 미국 매체 디 애슬레틱
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