The FIFA WC Final between France and Argentina ended with the South American defeating the defending champions 4-2 on penalties. Argentina was better than France for most of the match. But Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick turned the match into a spectacle and a penalty shootout ultimately decided the match. (Read Also: FIFA Investigates Salt Bae’s unauthorized entry and access on the pitch of the FIFA World Cup Final)
Controversy erupted when Messi’s second goal (in extra time) was claimed to be illegal. But the FIFA WC Final referee has broken his silence on the matter.
L’Equipe, a leading French publication, published the following article:
‘Why shouldn’t Argentina’s third goal be allowed?’
In the article, “An additional person was on the pitch at the time the goal was scored: the referee must award a goal if the said person was: a player, substituted player, sent-off player or official of the team who scored the goal. The game must be restarted with a direct free kick from where the extra man was.”
Polish referee Szymon Marciniak told the media that while French publications were obsessed with the Argentinian substitute coming onto the field in front of the goal, the French substitute had a shot against one of Mbappe’s goals. He suggested that he made no mention of doing the same thing during the match.
The French didn’t mention this photo, where you can see how there are seven Frenchmen on the pitch when Mbappé scores a goal,” he told Polish media, as suggested by a leading UK Daily.
At the press conference, Marciniak held up his cell phone to show a photo of a French sub stepping onto the pitch just in front of Mbappe’s goal.
However, the referee admitted that he made a mistake in the final.
“Of course there was a mistake in this final, interrupting the French counter-attack after a bad tackle by Marcos Acuna,” he told.
“I was afraid that the fouled player wanted to unwind, and I read it wrong because nothing happened, and you could give an advantage and then come back with a card. It’s hard. In a game like this, I take such a mistake in the dark. The important thing is that there were no big mistakes,” he added.
