It’s time for FIFA to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Heck, we’d settle for the late 20th century. (Wouldn’t want to unsettle the lords of soccer too much; 1980 might be about all they’re ready for.)

If the world is going to watch the World Cup … wouldn’t it be nice to count goals that are good … and not count those that are not?

It’s getting late, very late in the day to have Fifa’s field marshalls blowing calls of this magnitude. Blunders that could quickly and easily be rectified by the most basic of video reviews. Letting monstrous errors stand only infuriates fans, cheats teams and makes the game’s overseers seem both pig-headed and primitive.

Let’s go to the tape, such as it is …

In the round of 16 today, two matches were heavily influenced (decided?) by blown calls on goals.

Exhibit 1: Germany led England 2-1 in the first half when a shot by Frank Lampard hit the underside of the crossbar, fell to the turf and landed at least a foot behind the goal line. You can’t see it on this fifa.com video because FIFA isn’t really interested in, you know, historical accuracy or moral integrity. Anyway, after landing inside the goal, the Jabulani ball spun back out, was grabbed by the German goalkeeper … and play continued … as hundreds of millions of people around the world no doubt said “what the … what?” in their native tongues.

And then the video replays television viewers can get showed the ball landing significantly inside the goal.

Exhibit 2: Mexico and Argentina were scoreless in the 26th minute when Carlos Tevez took a shot that was blocked by Mexico’s goalkeeper. The ball popped out and came to Lionel Messi, who knocked it ahead to Tevez, alone in front of the net, who tapped in a goal — that should have been disallowed. Tevez was about five yards behind the last Mexico defender when Messi made the pass, which is the definition of offside. You actually can see the whole mess if you look closely at this fifa.com video. Yes, after the ad up front. The action you are interested in comes at the :30 mark. This is a bad angle, which I’m sure is no accident, and complicated a bit because two Mexico defenders get close to Tevez before his shot — which does not eliminate the offside violation made a moment before.

FIFA certainly would have preferred not to show any version of this, even one taken from a vantage point that makes the infraction harder to spot … but because this is officially a goal, they have to show it. (Must have killed them, after just ignoring the English Goal That Wasn’t.)

Interesting note on this bit of video. Fifa.com provides at least two looks at three of the four goals in the Mexico-Argentina match. Guess which one gets only one look.

This is a joke. A travesty. How can we take seriously any athletic event, in the age of a zillion TV cameras at a match, when it allows results to turn on the basis of tangibly wrong decisions by the officials?

Here’s how: In FIFA’s world, it’s about 1930, and the referee is God and the linesmen are demi-gods, and whatever they say goes, even if it’s laughably/lamentably incorrect.

Soccer purists who reject replay (and they are fewer by the minute) seem to yammer on about how the game can’t be stopped, etc., it interrupts the flow, and all that. When any midfielder can fall to the grass clutching his knee with a phantom injury and stop the game for several minutes. When the celebration of a goal can also involve a delay of several minutes.

Replay was broached by some wild-eyed revolutionaries back in November, when France defeated Ireland in extra time on a goal that came after a handball. Fifa, however, ignored this crazy talk, and here is what Sepp Blatter, the blinkered president of the governing body said:

“The application of modern technologies can be very costly, and therefore not applicable on a global level. … The game must be played in the same way no matter where you are in the world.”

He added: “It is often the case that, even after slow-motion replay, 10 different experts will have 10 different opinions on what the decision should have been. Fans love to debate any given incident in a game. It is part of the human nature of our sport.”

So, yes. It’s part of the game for officials to blow calls of match-deciding or match-turning  gravity. Maybe Germany and Argentina go on to win, anyway, but maybe they don’t. England is 2-2 and Mexico is still at 0-0, if we correct those blown goal calls … and no one knows how it might have turned out. If FIFA had a mechanism for stopping play and going to the video.

We will concede Blatter one small point: The technology might not be available for some levels of the tournament. As in early qualifying. Say, Bhutan is playing Mongolia and the game is not televised. That could be a problem.

But once we get to the Main Event, replay should be a part of the proceedings. Absolutely. Every match of what FIFA prefers to call “the Finals” is covered from a myriad of angles.

The National Football League has figured this out: The video has to be indisputable (as it would have been on the two blown goal calls today) to overturn. Even cricket and rugby, two other Old World sports, are using video replays to help judge the game correctly.

Why is soccer so retro about this?

Hey, FIFA: Wake up and smell the technology. All you have to save is your credibility.