Sections of the French press are adamant Argentina’s extra-time goal in the World Cup final should have been disallowed.
Les Blues came from two goals behind in an enthralling finale on Sunday, with two inside 90 seconds from Kylian Mbappe forcing an extra 30 minutes of play.
Argentina took the lead once again early in the second period of extra time, with Lionel Messi bundling home the ball to cap a fine team move.
The moment sparked wild celebrations from the Argentine bench with images appearing to show two substitutes had already spilled onto the pitch to celebrate before Messi’s goal had crossed the line.
The image is carried by L’Equipe under the headline: ‘Why Argentina’s third goal shouldn’t have been awarded’ and makes reference to the Fifa law that backs up their claim.
Law 3, paragraph 9 of the Fifa Laws of Football states: ‘If, after a goal is scored, the referee becomes aware before play resumes that an additional person was on the pitch at the time the goal was scored: the referee must disallow the goal if the extra person was: a player, substitute, substituted player, sent off player or official of the team who scored the goal; play must be restarted with a direct free kick from the place where the extra person was.’
Messi’s would-be winner was wiped out 10 minutes later when Mbappe scored his third goal of the game to level the contest and force the penalty shootout.
Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni failed to convert from 12 yards for Les Blues with Gonzalo Montiel going onto score the winner for La Albiceleste.
Speaking post-match, France boss Didier Deschamps revealed he had spoken to referee Szymon Marciniak but did not explain what issue he discussed with the official.
‘I need to be careful – you saw it as well as I did,’ Deschamps said of the referee’s performance.
‘It could have been worse, it could have been better.
‘Before this match Argentina had been a little bit lucky but I don’t want to take anything away from them; they fully deserve the title.
‘It is not because we suffered from any decisions that they came out victorious.
‘I just discussed this with the referee after the game but don’t want to go into details.’
MORE : Kylian Mbappe promises ‘we’ll be back’ after France’s World Cup final defeat to Argentina
MORE : Sergio Aguero calls France star Eduardo Camavinga a ‘d***face’ during Argentina’s World Cup celebrations
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