The 2018 World Cup champions France were very close to achieving the rare feat of becoming back-to-back World champions but fell short at the hands of Lionel Messi and Argentina.
Didier Deschamps’ side did not turn up to the final in Qatar for the most part but burst into life after a quickfire Kylian Mbappe double drew the French level.
The defending champions looked like they could go on and win the match but the third goal for Argentina in extra time, scored by Messi, meant the European side had to come back again – which they did.
However, French publication L’Equipe believes the goal should not have stood and it is something some French fans might rally behind.
According to the French report via 90min, some Argentina substitutes encroached onto the pitch, and this should have been deemed an illegal action and the goal chalked off.
L’Equipe even go as far as to specifically reference Law 3 in the rules of the game, which states: “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.”
Although this may be true by the letter of the law, it is not significant enough for VAR to intervene.
Also, considering France defender Dayot Upamecano handled the ball in the build-up to France’s third goal, everything naturally balanced itself out in the end and there is nothing really for the French outlet to complain about.
I am an Attorney-at-law and based on the rule as put forward in the article the goal would still not have been disallowed. According to rule 3 “if the referee becomes aware that after the goal was scored and an additional player was on the field at the time when the goal was scored, the goal should be disallowed”. The players weren’t on the field at the time when the goal was scored but instead, they came on after the goal was scored. This allegation is just geared at sparking confusion and downplaying Argentina and Messi’s achievement.