Picture Credit: Twitter
The FIFA World Cup 2022 Final between Argentina and France turned out to be an absolute cliffhanger with the result getting decided through a penalty shootout. Lionel Messi had a fairytale end to his FIFA World Cup campaign as the seasoned campaigner got the long-awaited World Cup title. Messi netted two goals on the night along with a successful conversion in the penalty shootout. While Argentina were adjudged winners based on a penalty shootout score of 4-2, a few claimed that Messi’s second goal was not legitimate.
With clips showing that there were a couple of Argentine substitutes on the field while Messi hit the ball into France’s net, there were serious questions raised on the level of umpiring in the biggest game.
Leading French publication L'Equipe had run an article: "Why Argentina's third goal shouldn't have been awarded". In the article, it wrote, “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.”
Now, one of the referees on the night, Szymon Marciniak has opened up on the incident and has admitted that there were mistakes made. But he also highlighted how a few of France’s substitutes were also on the pitch when Mbappe scored a goal. "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 stated by Express UK.
In a press conference, Marciniak held his phone up and showed a picture where some French subs could be seen stepping into the playing field right before one of Mbappe's goals. The referee, however, did admit that he made one mistake in the final. "Of course, there were mistakes in this final. I interrupted the French counter-attack after a bad tackle by Marcos Acuna," he told Sport.
"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.