Since VAR hadn't been incorporated into International competitions in Africa yet, the referee's decision could only be made at his own discretion and with the aid of the replay.
Immediately the replay stopped, some Nigerian fans already calling for the goal to be offside because it looked a lot like offside to both the trained and untrained eye, but because of how close it was, one could not immediately determine whether it was offside or not.
The Nigerian fans however thought differently as they did not want to lose their clean sheet and they called for offside.
The Benin Republic fans, as the opposing team, also called for onside as their team had finally gotten a goal in the game and were on track to making a dreamy comeback.
The referee took a few more seconds to consider, but then it did not take too long for him to make his decision.
{The goal will stand!}
{The scores are now 2:1}