The first encounter in the quarter-final of the Asian Nations Cup between Japan and Vietnam saw the first use of the video game referee technique (VAR) in the tournament.
UAE referee Mohammed Abdullah Hassan Al-Falar used twice in the match, which ended with the victory of the "Samurai" and qualified him to the Golden Square.
- The first time was when the referee canceled a goal for the Japanese team in the 25th minute after playing a corner kick by Maya Yoshida header, but the ball hit his hand before the goal to return to referee VAR technique, which confirmed the illegality of the goal.
- The referee used the referee again in the 55th minute to take the penalty that the Japanese team scored the goal of progress, after Tian Boy, the defender of Vietnam to block Japanese player Ritsu Duan inside the penalty area. The referee did not see the incident and asked to resume playing before returning to the penalty and the penalty kick.
The AFC has begun using the assistive video system from the quarter-finals of the tournament hosted by the UAE.