Argentina are world champions and France is in mourning. The final of the soccer World Cup in Qatar is intoxicating, enchanting – and yet leaves a dissatisfied loser in its wake. Because if the rules are very strict, a goal by Lionel Messi is irregular.
It was the best game of this World Cup, the best final of all time: The World Cup in Qatar came to a fitting end in sporting terms. The experts are full of praise, but one country doesn’t really want to participate. It is France, the nation of the defeated. Your Équipe Tricolore lost to Argentina, in a game that went haywire, with the greatest possible tension, with a decision only on penalties. Argentina are world champions, France leaves Qatar in mourning. But the mistake has already been found at home – and it’s not up to your team.
No, it’s a goal for Argentina that shouldn’t have counted. Messi’s 3-2 has been scrutinized very closely. The very good referee Szymon Marciniak is accused of a mistake by “L’Equipe”.
The scene was not noticed during the game, the focus was on Messi, who had put Argentina ahead again in the 109th minute. His ball was clear behind the goal line before Jules Koundé chipped it away. The Argentinian captain, the superstar, had converted a dust-off after Lautaro Martínez was initially failed by France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. The VAR checked a possible offside from Martinez when the goal was created, but he passed the check.
However, the other scenery on the lawn during the hit was disregarded. Two Argentinian substitutes were on the pitch, actually inside the pitch. They had already set off to celebrate with the potentially successful Martinez before Messi got the ball.
A case that, according to the rules, invalidates the hit. Finally, Rule 3, Paragraph 9 states: “If, after a goal has been scored but before play restarts, the referee determines that an additional person was on the field of play at the time the goal was scored, the referee will not award the goal if the additional person player, a substitute, a substituted or sent off player, or a team official of the team that scored the goal.” In that case, referee expert Alex Feuerherdt from “Collinas Erben” also confirms: “The game is continued with a direct free kick at the point where the additional person was.”
Means: Instead of 3:2 and kick-off, a free kick for France on the touchline would have been the right decision. However, Feuerherdt also said that the rule would then be interpreted extremely strictly and precisely. “None of them intervened or influenced the game,” was his verdict on the cheering players on the fringes. He judged: “The rules may say otherwise here, but would football really want goals like that not to count? Certainly not.”
It’s also not the first time that substitutes have rushed onto the pitch to celebrate while a goal is just about to be scored. Feuerherdt referred to the 2018 DFB Cup final when Eintracht Frankfurt beat Bayern Munich. Back then, about ten players and team officials ran onto the field while Mijat Gacinovic scored the final score in the 90.6.
In the World Cup final, Mbappé once again equalized the interim lead with his third goal. France almost decided the game even in extra time. Randal Kolo Muani had a mega-chance on the foot, but Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved with a world-class reflex.
But even there, if the rules were strictly interpreted, it would have been necessary to take a look at the touchline. When the Eintracht Frankfurt striker shot, members of the French team were already sprinting onto the field. It is questionable, however, whether this would really have been discussed in France.