Keith Hackett wowed by '1 in 100' Alexander Isak incident in Sweden vs Tunisia: 'Amazing'
Alexander Isak was at the centre of a very rare moment during Sweden's 5-1 win over Tunisia in their 2026 World Cup opener.
That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that VAR technology at the competition simply has to be trusted after the Liverpool star's intervention.
The 26-year-old centre-forward experienced an extremely difficult first campaign at Anfield, making just eight Premier League starts due to injuries after his £125million move.
On the international stage, though, he always seems to come alive, grabbing a goal and two assists to fire Sweden to the top of Group F on Monday, 15 June.
And it was his second assist that came under unusual circumstances. After just seconds on the pitch, Mattias Svanberg had added a fourth for the Swedes.
The goal was quickly ruled out for offside, that was until VAR intervened, with new technology picking up Isak's slight touch on the ball, a moment which put the goalscorer back onside.
Alexander Isak at centre of 'snicko' World Cup moment
VAR's intervention in the tournament has been heavily debated so far, but for Hackett, this was a good use of the "snicko" technology, and was an extremely rare one at that.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former referee said: "It's amazing isn't it? Can we trust the technology? I guess we have to.
"But we've already had one incident where we're still waiting for the clip aren't we? 99 times out of 100, that would be given offside, wouldn't it?
"The technology has effectively given us a goal. It seems to me that the default position that's been set by the technology is more akin to allowing goals than chalking them off.
"I don't think that's a bad thing. I'm pleased the goal was allowed. I'm pleased that they've got confidence in the technology."
How does the technology work in this offside decision?
While it all seems very technical, it is actually very simple, and just needs explaining to those who have rarely seen this kind of thing happen.
The ball, made by Adidas, has a chip built into the ball, that is able to register when a touch is made. That's exactly what happened here.
Although Svanberg was offside as the free-kick was taken, Isak's slight touch meant that the Wolfsburg star was actually onside when scoring Sweden's first.
It hasn't all been hugely positive at this summer's tournament so far, but this intervention has given a goal, rather than rule a perfectly good one out.