World Cup Gets Its Own Snicko: The Technology Behind Sweden’s Fourth Goal vs Tunisia

Mattias Svanberg’s impact could barely have been more immediate when he came off Sweden’s bench on Sunday night. Eighteen seconds were all it took for the substitute to score his side’s fourth goal in an emphatic 5-1 win over Tunisia in Monterrey — but his big moment also owed much to the intervention of technology.

The match official team detected a faint touch on the ball by Liverpool striker Alexander Isak in the build-up to Svanberg’s goal, which meant the original offside call was overturned and the goal allowed to stand. The moment introduced millions of football fans to a piece of technology more familiar to cricket watchers — and prompted the question: what exactly is going on inside that World Cup ball?

What Happened in the Incident?

Svanberg was sent on to make an impact and did exactly that with his very first touch. Yasin Ayari’s free kick from the right was swept into the net by the Wolfsburg midfielder — but his celebrations were initially cut short by an offside flag. Svanberg was clearly standing beyond the last defender as the free kick was taken before arcing his run back to meet the cross.

Sweden were adamant that teammate Isak had got a touch on the way through, which would make Svanberg’s original offside position irrelevant — he had returned to an onside position by the time Isak met the ball.

That was when technology came into play. The video assistant referee (VAR) team identified the all-important touch from Isak and confirmed to match official Yael Falcon that the goal should stand. Much like the Snicko technology used in cricket, broadcasters could even show a graphic illustrating the precise moment Isak had flicked the ball on with his right boot.

What Is the Technology Being Used?

Since Qatar 2022, a 500Hz inertial measurement unit (IMU) motion sensor has been embedded inside the match balls used at World Cups. Manufactured by Adidas — FIFA’s oldest commercial partner — the technology is branded as Connected Ball Technology (CBT).

The CBT combines the ball’s internal sensor data with player position data and, through artificial intelligence, provides real-time information to streamline the semi-automated offside process. By delivering data 500 times per second, the sensor makes the precise moment a ball was touched clear — detecting external forces on the ball’s surface and registering them as a measurable spike.

The Ronaldo Precedent

The same technology — or its direct predecessor — famously denied Cristiano Ronaldo a goal at Qatar 2022. Ronaldo claimed he had made slight contact with Bruno Fernandes’ cross in a 2-0 win over Uruguay, celebrating as though he had scored.

FIFA later credited the goal to Fernandes. In their statement, the tournament organisers said: “No external force on the ball could be measured as shown by the lack of heartbeat in our measurements.”

The same logic — applied in reverse — was used to confirm Svanberg’s goal in Monterrey. Where Ronaldo’s claimed touch produced no spike, Isak’s touch did. The sensor’s data was unambiguous.

The Trionda — the official ball of the 2026 World Cup — carries the same sensor developed alongside FIFA and Kinexon, and its capability to detect external force, record ball speed, and timestamp contact to the millisecond has already had direct consequences on the tournament’s results.

The technology also revealed a different statistic from the Tunisia match: Ayari’s two goals were the fastest of the tournament so far, clocked at 120 km/h (74.6 mph) and 118 km/h (73.3 mph) respectively.

The Cricket Comparison: Snicko in Football

The graphic that FIFA showed viewers was immediately familiar to cricket fans. In cricket, the Decision Review System (DRS) uses technologies including Ultra Edge and the Snickometer (Snicko) to detect whether a ball has made contact with a bat — displaying a waveform that spikes when contact is registered.

The football equivalent shown during Sweden vs Tunisia resembled a cardiac monitor — a flat line punctuated by a telling spike at the precise moment the ball made contact with Isak’s boot.

The fundamental difference is in the mechanism. Cricket’s Snicko relies primarily on sensitive microphones positioned at the base of the stumps rather than a sensor within the ball itself, which has occasionally led to controversy. During the most recent Ashes series between Australia and England, calls were made for Snicko to be reviewed after a series of incidents where the spike on the graphic did not appear to align with the ball passing the bat in the accompanying footage.

Football’s version — with the sensor inside the ball itself — arguably provides a more direct and reliable reading, since the data originates from the object being tracked rather than from external microphones.

There is one theatrical difference, however. In cricket, the DRS review process plays out in real time for viewers, creating genuine drama as the graphic builds toward its spike. In football, FIFA showed the Isak graphic only after the goal had already been confirmed — meaning the moment did not quite carry the same sense of tension and theatre that cricket’s equivalent provides.

Is This Technology Widespread in Football?

The CBT was also used at Euro 2024 — but its adoption beyond major international tournaments remains limited. The Premier League, whose official match ball partner is Puma, has not yet adopted a motion sensor. The technology remains, for now, specific to elite international competition where Adidas supplies the balls and FIFA or UEFA sanction its use.

That gap between international and domestic football means many of the players involved in these moments encounter the technology relatively rarely — which perhaps explains why moments like the Isak touch detection generate such widespread interest when they occur.

Read More: Spanish Footballer Rafa Mir Sentenced to 8.5 Years in Prison for Sexual Assault and Injuries

FAQs