While VAR has divided opinion, the technology also has the power to ensure that some of the greatest footballing injustices of past World Cups are not repeated.
Image: AFP
The FIFA World Cup has delivered some of football's greatest moments, but it has also been the stage for challenges so brutal they remain infamous decades later.
From flying karate kicks to bone-crunching collisions, these tackles crossed the line between competitive football and outright violence.
When the pressure of representing an entire nation reaches boiling point, discipline can disappear in an instant. Some players paid the price with red cards, others somehow escaped punishment altogether.
No incident better illustrates that than the clash between West Germany goalkeeper Harald Schumacher and France's Patrick Battiston during the 1982 semi-final.
Battiston was racing through on goal when Schumacher launched himself into the Frenchman without even attempting to play the ball. The collision left Battiston unconscious, with broken teeth and serious injuries.
The referee only awarded a goal kick and took no further action.
Nearly three decades later, the 2010 World Cup final produced another jaw-dropping moment. Netherlands midfielder Nigel de Jong raised his boot chest-high and planted his studs into Spain's Xabi Alonso.
The challenge looked more suited to a martial arts contest than football's biggest match. Yet referee Howard Webb showed only a yellow card. Spain would ultimately have the last laugh, winning the final 1-0 after extra time.
The 1994 quarter-final between Italy and Spain featured one of the most notorious off-the-ball incidents in tournament history.
Italian defender Mauro Tassotti smashed an elbow into the face of Luis Enrique inside the penalty area.
The Spaniard's bloodied face became one of the defining images of USA '94. Although the referee missed the incident, FIFA later handed Tassotti an eight-match suspension.
Then there was the infamous "Battle of Santiago" in 1962. Tensions between Chile and Italy exploded into one of the most violent matches ever played. The most memorable moment came when Italian defender Mario David launched a flying kick into Chilean star Leonel Sánchez.
The challenge earned a red card and cemented the match's reputation as football's wildest World Cup encounter. Rounding out the list is Benjamin Massing's thunderous body-check on Argentina forward Claudio Caniggia during Cameroon’s famous upset victory in 1990.
Massing hit Caniggia with such force that his own boot flew off during the collision.
And finally, while it was not officially a tackle, Zinedine Zidane's headbutt on Marco Materazzi has to make the list due its significance in the 2006 World Cup final. Zidane got a red card and Italy ended up winning the World Cup.
Jehran Naidoo is sports reporter for Independent Media and social media coordinator of the our YouTube channel The Clutch