Video: the referee’s mistake deprives the Spanish national team of a legal goal.

Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg, who combined poise and composure on the one hand and a terrible mistake on the other, received an ‘achieved success’ rating from the Archive VAR network, which specializes in refereeing cases, after officiating against Spain and Austria at the 2026 World Cup.

The network gave referee Nyberg a 5.0 out of 10 rating, saying he “barely managed” to officiate a high-profile match, after he produced a mostly good performance that was marred by a fatal first-half failure to disallow Mark Cucurella’s perfectly-correct Spanish goal.

The report explained:archiveo var:“Nyberg showed a clear knack for organizing big matches as he managed to defuse any potential tension between the players with his calmness and sense of humor which were effective in keeping the game flowing.

However, the referee’s error came when he decided to disallow Cucurella’s goal because Pau Kobarzi had fouled the Austrian goalkeeper, an incident which confirmed the report that no foul had been committed by the Spanish defender.

The network concluded its assessment by stressing that Nyberg “still deserves a passing grade overall” despite the foul given his ability to control the tempo of the game and handle the pressure of the game, but stressed that such decisions can change the course of games in a tournament the size of the World Cup.