Alexander Isak’s Sweden strike ‘was WRONGLY ruled out for offside’, UEFA ‘admit’ – with VAR blunder costing the Newcastle forward after the lines were drawn at the wrong time

UEFA have admitted to a major VAR error that resulted in an Alexander Isak strike for Sweden being ruled out against Azerbaijan, according to a report.

Sweden ended their 2024 year of fixtures with a bang on Tuesday evening, with Isak and Co putting six past their opponents for a 6-0 win that saw them secure top spot in Nations League C Group 1.

Isak wasn’t on the scoresheet in the game, despite starting up front, with in-form Sporting Lisbon forward Viktor Gyokeres netting four goals to continue his scintillating form for club and country.

Tottenham midfielder Dejan Kulusevski was the other man on the scoresheet, netting a brace on what was a comfortable night for Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side.

But it was somewhat marred by an incident involved a goal scored by Newcastle forward Isak, who should have netted his side’s fourth goal of the game, but for VAR to rule it out for offside.

Replays, however, at the time suggested it was a questionable call, and UEFA have now admitted that the wrong decision was made by the refereeing team, according to Sportbladet.

Lines were drawn near the forward, but at the wrong point in play where the player receiving the ball was onside

When Isak picked up the ball before scoring, he too was onside with no offence made

Fans were left scratching their heads about why the goal had not been allowed to stand, with no offside evident in the build-up to the goal.

It turned out that the line was actually drawn next to Isak at the wrong time – when he would have been offside, but he was not involved in play at that point.

The goal came from Gyokeres dropping deep from the centre forward position, before turning and feeding Isak, who ran in from the left to cut inside and score.

It has emerged, however, that the line was drawn to Isak when Gyokeres, who was onside, received the ball.

The Newcastle forward could also be seen to be onside when the former Coventry man played him the ball, meaning no offence was made despite the goal being ruled out.

The video assistant referee for the game was Pawel Malec, while the assistant video assistant referee was Daniel Stefanski – both are from Poland.

Fans took to social media to slam the decision, with one writing on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Possibly the worst offside decision I’ve ever seen. I still can’t work out how Isak’s goal has been ruled out.’

Isak, meanwhile, said: ‘You burn a little, I won’t lie. You draw a line, completely wrong, that’s too bad. I can accept assessment situations, that people can have different opinions and that wrong decisions can happen. But this is not it.’

Isak didn’t score in the 6-0 win, but team-mate Viktor Gyokeres netted four goals in the game

The Sweden and Sporting forward continued his scintillating form for club and country in tie

Though he was not officially on the scoresheet on Monday for his country, Isak did net in Sweden’s first game of the international break against Slovenia.

After Gyokeres had opened the scoring for the hosts, David Hancko equalised in what proved to be a difficult game for the Swedes in their hunt for promotion.

But Isak popped up to net the winner for his side, scoring in the 48th minute to help secure a 2-1 win over their closest rivals in the Nations League groups.

Isak has also been in good form for Newcastle of late, netting in each of his side’s last four games in both the Premier League and Carabao Cup. The Magpies face West Ham at home this weekend.