16 days to the World Cup: Karim Benzema's own goal helped changed the tournament for good

The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is on! Each day ahead of the tournament’s return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year’s global event.

The 2014 World Cup was the first with an exciting new piece of tech: the goal-line technology that determines whether the ball crossed the line. And luckily for FIFA, it didn’t have to wait long to debut the tool.

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On June 15, three days into the tournament, France thrashed Honduras 3-0 to open group stage play. The win came behind a near-hat trick from French striker Karim Benzema, who scored a penalty in the 45th minute and another goal in the 72nd, after a 48th-minute goal that was later overturned and credited as an own goal.

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That 48th-minute goal was an odd one: Benzema beat the Honduras back line to send in a strike that hit the right post. The bounce then got tangled in the hands of Honduras goalkeeper Noel Valladares, who appeared to snatch it off the line and keep it from going in.

This, then, was the perfect time to debut the new tech, which ended up being key to understanding the goal. Review concluded that Benzema’s initial shot did not cross the line before bouncing off the post. As Valladares attempted to corral the ball off the bounce, though, it crossed the line completely, not only resulting in a goal, but an own goal on Valladares.

Though the ruling snatched away a potential hat trick from Benzema, it didn’t end up making a difference for France, with Benzema’s actual second goal sealing the victory 30 minutes later. Les Bleus finished first in Group E, while Honduras finished last in the group with zero points — though it got to be part of a little bit of history.