DOHA – A much-debated goal helped Japan seal their second comeback win at this World Cup, beating 2010 champions Spain 2-1 on Thursday to help them top Group E and book a last-16 spot against Croatia.

Ao Tanaka’s 51st-minute winner, which came off substitute Kaoru Mitoma’s pass, was ruled out by the assistant referee at first.

From several angles, it looked as if the ball had gone out before Mitoma’s cut-back from the byeline but, after checking for a few minutes, the video assistant referee (VAR) allowed the goal to stand after deeming that the ball had not crossed the line.

The Laws of the Game state that the whole of the ball must be over the line for it to be out of play. In this case, while the base of the ball had already crossed the line, blown-up pictures showed that the circumference of the ball was still on the line – by mere millimetres.

Former Premier League referee Peter Walton said on ITV that Fifa must have seen images which showed the curvature of the ball was leaving it in play.

“I’m seeing the same angles as you, there’s a misconception in law that just because the part of the ball that is on the floor is over the line is out – well it clearly isn’t because it’s the curve of the ball,” he said.

“What the VAR is looking for is the evidence to suggest to the referee that the ball has clearly left the field of play and on the evidence that we’re seeing, he doesn’t have that in front of him.”

Mike Dean, currently a VAR official in the Premier League, said on beIN Sport: “There is one angle I have seen before, an angle bang from where the corner flag is looking down and it doesn’t look like the ball is out.”

However, Fifa did not release the VAR footage, which “doesn’t help with transparency”, tweeted ex-England defender Gary Neville.

Speaking after the match at the Khalifa International Stadium, Spain coach Luis Enrique said: “I have seen a photo that must have been tampered with, it cannot be that this photo is real. It has to be manipulated.

“I felt that something fishy was going on when the VAR took as much time as it did to decide... I have nothing to say.”

But the former Barcelona coach believes that his team, who will face Morocco in the round of 16 on Tuesday, did not deserve to finish as Group E winners and warned them to show more strength when the opposition is pressing.

Spain had looked in total control in the first half, with Alvaro Morata putting them ahead in the 11th minute when he scored his third goal in three games, rising high above Japan’s defence to power a header past goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda after a cross by Cesar Azpilicueta.

According to Opta, both Rodri (115) and Pau Torres (109) completed more passes before the break than Japan did as an entire team (89). However, the Spaniards were not as solid defensively.

Their tendency to give up possession as they built from the back had almost cost them again, with Sergio Busquets losing the ball on the edge of the area and goalkeeper Unai Simon having to scramble a clearance off his own line on the half-hour mark.

But the Samurai Blue took the game to the Spaniards, refusing to let them settle on the ball after coach Hajime Moriyasu’s half-time tweaks had worked a treat – just as they did when the Asians beat Germany by the same score in last week’s opener.

Half-time substitute Ritsu Doan hammered in a shot from the edge of the box in the 48th minute which Simon could not keep out. Three minutes later came Tanaka’s goal after the controversial cut-back by Mitoma, another half-time replacement.

Enrique lamented the five minutes in which they lost control, saying: “They scored two goals against us, and if they had needed to score two more, then they would have scored them too, I’m sure.

“This is a World Cup and when a team like Japan does not have anything to lose, well, they decide to risk it all and flew past us like they were aeroplanes.

“The situation was under control once Japan decided to recover their previous position on the pitch and shut up shop at the back.”

Enrique’s side still saw most of the ball but were careless under pressure. In the end, the Samurai Blue pulled off the victory with only 17.7 per cent possession – the lowest for a winning team in recorded World Cup history.

The Spaniards had virtually the entire second half to stage a comeback but lacked energy and ideas and barely threatened Gonda in Japan’s goal.

Moriyasu praised the perseverance of his players. The 54-year-old, who is aiming to surpass their best World Cup showing – a round-of-16 appearance in 2002, 2010 and 2018 – is hoping that their wins over two former world champions will give Asia a boost.

“There are many things we can learn, but Asia can win in the world stage – Japan can win on the world stage. I think all of the people in Asia will share our happiness,” he said. AFP, REUTERS