Argentina He is world champion for the third time in his history. He beat France 4-2 on penalties following an electrifying 3-3 win in the greatest final of all time. The soccer planet settled its debt with Lionel Messi. What happened this Sunday in Qatar is res judicata. Carved in stone forever. However, in France they affirm that the third goal for the albiceleste, scored precisely by that duenxe who wears the number 10 shirt, was illegitimate and should have been annulled.
Under the headline “Why Argentina’s third goal should not have been conceded”, the sports newspaper L’Equipe argues: “Minute 108 of the game, following a triangulation with Enzo Fernández and Leo Messi, Lautaro Martínez shoots hard from very close range. Hugo Lloris avoids the goal, but the ball returns to the feet of La Pulga. Messi volleys it and makes it 3-2 for Argentina, despite Jules Koundé’s late attempt to avoid it. It’s goal. Although it should not have been validated, if the rules were strictly applied, ”he details.
Shouldn’t have counted? ��
In accordance with @lequipethe VAR had to review Messi’s goal in extra time, because before the ball entered, there were two Argentine substitutes invading the pitch.
According to the regulations, a free kick had to be awarded to France. �� pic.twitter.com/kEi6xZOmp1
— TNT Sports México (@tntsportsmex)
December 19, 2022
Then, he explains: “When Messi clears Lloris’s save with a volley, some Argentine substitutes, carried away by emotion, are already on the pitch, ready to celebrate. Which is strictly prohibited. And a free kick should have been called in favor of France”.
Although nothing will alter the course of history, the statement made by the French media has a legal basis. In paragraph 9 of article 3 of the football laws it establishes: “If, following scoring a goal, the referee realizes before play is restarted that another person was on the field of play 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 that scored the goal; the game must be restarted with a direct free kick from the place where the extra person was located”.
The curious thing is that minutes later, the French substitutes themselves committed the same infraction, in an action that did not end in a goal. Carried away by the emotion of knowing that it was the last ball, the French players who were not playing invaded the field, imagining that Kolo Muani’s one-on-one once morest Dibu Martínez would end at the back of the net, something that did not happen.
The disappointment, finally, was patented in Kylian Mbappé. “This World Cup is my obsession, it is the competition of my dreams. I built my entire season around this World Cup and I prepared myself to the fullest both physically and mentally to win it”, the striker had advanced before the Cup. Nothing can be blamed following the grand final of the Qatar 2022 World Cup that he played once morest Argentina. Neither taking into account the level at which he played the cup, having converted with eight goals in seven games. The truth is that the attacker wanted to lift the trophy for the second time, something that did not happen and his reaction was noticeable at all times once the match was over.
In a series of images, the PSG striker can be seen with a lot of anger and pain for not having reached the goal he wanted so much. He was seen sitting on the substitute bench with a lost look and a sad face. For having been the top scorer in the World Cup, he went to receive the Golden Boot with an annoyed face and formally greeted French President Emmanuel Macron, the local authorities, Gianni Infantino, head of the AFA, Claudio Tapia, president of the AFA , and Alejandro Domínguez, head of Conmebol.
After receiving the top scorer trophy, Mbappé had to wait for FIFA to give him the other awards: Enzo Fernández, best young player; to Emiliano Martínez, the best goalkeeper in the World Cup and to Lionel Messi, who won the award for the best player in the World Cup. Once all those prizes were delivered, he had to take a photo with the three world champions. Without smiling, he posed for the cameras, but then he left the Argentine soccer players alone.
In addition, in the last few hours he posted a photo on the social network Twitter where he is seen with his prize in his hand, looking down, with the World Cup very close to him and a word that connotes revenge: “We will be back,” he wrote the 23-year-old attacker. Another of the photos that traveled the world was when he sat on the grass of the Lusail stadium. At that moment, the Argentine goalkeeper Dibu Martínez approached to console him along with Emmanuel Macron, president of France.