The global spectacle known as the World Cup wrapped up Sunday. As we have observed over the last five weeks, there aren’t too many similarities between soccer and American football.

One sport has continuous action, the other stops every 10 seconds. One sport penalizes you for using your hands (unless you’re a designated goalkeeper), the other penalizes you for kicking the ball (unless you’re a designated kicker). One sport awards fouls for incidental contact, the other embraces contact as the essence of the game.

Yet there is one area in which the NFL can take lessons from the World Cup — FIFA’s use of instant replay, or video assistant referee. FIFA began using VAR for the 2018 tournament, and ramped up its efforts significantly this summer, with well over 100 calls overturned by VAR throughout the tournament.

While VAR was helpful in some instances, FIFA essentially provided the NFL (and other leagues) a guide on how not to use instant replay..

Read Ben Volin's full story at Globe.com/Sports.