France’s L’Équipe have claimed today that Argentina’s third goal in last night’s World Cup final should have been disallowed, on the basis that several members of the Albiceleste bench had come on to the pitch before Lionel Messi had scored.
After Kylian Mbappé’s double to take the game into extra-time, the eventual winners took the lead again once the Paris Saint-Germain man finished from close range after Hugo Lloris had parried a shot fom Lautaro Martínez, with Jules Koundé unable to keep the ball out before it had fully crossed the line.
The outlet, which notably handed the game’s referee Szymon Marciniak a rating of 2/10 afterwards, says that according to the regulations, a free-kick should have been awarded to Les Bleus. L’Équipe indicate that the rules state that if the official realises before kick-off that someone a substitute or a staff member of the team that scored came onto the field of play, the goal is to be disallowed. It appears highly unlikely, though, that the FFF would see this as grounds for an appeal with FIFA – not least after their complaint over Antoine Griezmann’s disallowed strike against Tunisia was waved away.
GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin