Nottingham Forest will fume after latest FIFA update, their season has already been impacted
Nottingham Forest will surely feel cheated after FIFA’s plans were revealed ahead of the 2026 World Cup next year.
Forest lost 2-0 to Brighton on Sunday, 30 November, but even despite the defeat, Sean Dyche‘s side have moved out of the Premier League relegation zone, winning two of their last four games.
As well as slowly climbing the Premier League table, Forest beat Malmo to move up to 16th in the Europa League standings, with three games left to achieve automatic progression to the round of 16.
Ange Postecoglou’s short reign at the City Ground certainly put a dampener on the overall atmosphere, but Dyche seems to have quickly turned that around after just eight matches in charge.
Nottingham Forest have been hurt by VAR’s lack of intervention
The former Everton boss got his tenure off to the most ideal start, beating Porto in the Europa League, but a defeat to Bournemouth and a draw with Man United caused a massive stir.
Both games have one extremely frustrating thing in common. The Reds conceded goals from corners which should never have been awarded, and had that not happened, they might be in a better position.
Straight after Casemiro headed in the opener, former PGMOL boss Keith Hackett was calling for a “simple” rule change, and that would have included more VAR intervention.
Most football supporters will cringe at the thought of VAR playing an even bigger role, but it appears that FIFA echo his beliefs ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Sadly, it cannot save Forest now.
FIFA push ahead with corner rule change, but it’s too late for Nottingham Forest
According to The Times’ Martin Ziegler (1 December), FIFA are set to press ahead with VAR checking the awarding of corner kicks, despite the IFAB rejecting the idea.
That will mean that the governing body will have to create a trial to use it at the World Cup in America, Canada, and Mexico, but it could have a huge impact on the game moving forward.
Sadly, Forest have already been impacted by poor decisions surrounding the awarding of non-corners, and there is no predicting where they might be in the Premier League had they not happened.
Semi-automated offside technology and referees announcing VAR decisions have already been welcomed into the game, and it will only be a matter of time before the same happens with corners.