Cruel VAR: The saddest seconds in the history of the Luxembourg national team

They never made it to the Euros, but they have made great progress in recent years. Luxembourg were two wins away from qualifying for the European Championships in Germany, but were stopped in the semi-finals of the barrage by a cruel but correct VAR decision.

The paper-weakest of the four barrage teams will emerge as the fourth opponent for the group stage of the Euro. It won’t be Kazakhstan, who failed to beat the Greeks by a high score of 0:5, the Georgians also reached the final of the barrage via Luxembourg.

From euphoria to rock bottom

Georgia fulfilled the role of slight favourite at home, applying the pressure with the opening goal in the 40th minute. But it was level in the 54th minute when Gerson Rodriguez, who currently plays for Slovan Bratislava, scored with a shot from inside the penalty area.

However, the head referee was called to the screen by the VAR assistant. He pointed out the intervention on the other side of the pitch that preceded the whole situation. Maxime Chanot fouled as the last man, so the referee cancelled the goal and issued a red card.

A harsh but correct decision by VAR

The one-sided sending off sent Luxembourg to their knees and deprived them of a thrilling end to the match, but at the same time VAR saved the game from an objective point of view. A clear red card, after which Georgia added an insurance goal to win 2:0.

The pain of a missed opportunity

Luxembourg have never been so close to taking part in the European Championship. It has been playing qualifying since 1964 and could have qualified directly this year. It left favourites Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland behind in the table, but the Slovaks came out on top.

Still, Luxembourg cannot be written off heading into the next qualifying cycle. Its players are gradually showing their worth on the European stage, and even the aforementioned overtaking of Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina is certainly no small milestone.

Source: Euro 2024 Qualifiers, FIFA