the ball had made contact with a wire. The governing body's official media account posted on X that the sensor embedded in the connected ball recorded no peak in its so-called 'heartbeat' signal — the marker used to detect sudden contact — while the ball was airborne.

The Snickometer-style technology, more commonly associated with cricket, has been a recurring talking point at this tournament. It previously sparked debate during Portugal's 2-1 last-32 victory over Croatia, when a marginal touch by Igor Matanovic was detected to rule out Josko Gvardiol's stoppage-time equaliser.

England head coach Thomas Tuchel pointed to that earlier episode as evidence the system is reliable.