Japan make it to the World Cup for the fourth time in their history after another miraculous comeback to beat Spain 2-1.
semifinals
It is also the first time that the team has finished at the top of the group.
advancement
Japan scored 2 goals in 3 minutes early in the second half. Japan scored two goals in three minutes early in the second half, but the second goal scored by Bea Tanaka was full of controversy. Kaoru Mitaka's pass from the bottom of the line appeared to be 99% out of the bottom line, but the rules of the game state that the ball should be completely over the line.
beyond the pale
The VAR eventually ruled that the goal was valid, but there is no public image of the decision.
Tanaka's goal caused a heated debate among netizens, as the bottom of the soccer ball was seen to have gone out of the goal line in a different camera, but from another high angle view, the ball was still stacked on the white line, and was not counted as having gone out of bounds, so the VAR decided that the goal had been awarded. According to the Japanese media, the ball touched the white line by only 1.88 millimeters, and such a small difference was enough to rewrite the history of Japanese soccer. Japan was able to successfully
advancement
It seems that thanks to the high-tech soccer ball used in this year's World Cup, there is a sensor inside the ball that can measure speed, direction and other data, and through with the camera lenses installed around the stadium, the ball can be tracked, which helps the referee to make the right decision.
Bea Tanaka, the goal scorer, said after the game, "From my point of view, half of the ball was already over the line, and when the ball came to me, I just wanted to shoot it in, and even if the VAR ruled that the goal was disallowed, I didn't want to leave any regrets.
