Not everybody in France is best pleased with how the 2022 World Cup final panned out.
And no, we don’t mean with regards to simply the result because every Frenchman or woman will have been gutted about that, but rather the circumstances in which it unfolded.
To be more specific, there are plenty of fans and media who believe that the refereeing decisions within the match conspired against them with Argentina claiming victory in Qatar.
Don’t believe us? Well, consider, for example, that 200,000 France fans have already signed a petition for the game at the Lusail Iconic Stadium to be replayed.
Read more: World Cup final: Why 200,000 French fans want it replayed
Why are the French media angry with Messi goal?
And it’s not just the supporters either because French newspaper L’Equipe fanned the flames of controversy in the wake of defeat by protesting Lionel Messi‘s second goal of the game.
Brandishing a provocative headline of: ‘Why Argentina’s third goal shouldn’t have been awarded,’ the publication noted how two of Lionel Scaloni’s substitutes were on the pitch before Messi bobbled home the rebound in extra time.
L’Equipe drew attention to Law 3, Paragraph 9 of the Laws of Football, which reads: “If, 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.”
L’Èquipe are claiming that Argentina’s third goal should not have counted as the Argentine substitutes were already on the pitch ready to celebrate when the ball went in. pic.twitter.com/3PtBfK17w2
— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) December 19, 2022
Perhaps, as trivial as the point might seem, that indicates Argentina were indeed lucky not to have seen their third goal of the evening consigned to the scrapheap.
How did World Cup final ref react to the controversy?
However, before we come to a conclusion on that, you’ll forgive us for thinking that there’s one man better placed to address the issue than most: the World Cup final referee himself.
And yes, that’s right, Szymon Marciniak has done exactly that by grabbing the controversy by the horns upon his heroic return to Poland this week.
As reported by Jakub Kłyszejko and translated by Zach Lowy, Marciniak hit back at L’Equipe’s comments by holding up an image from the game on a mobile phone and stating: “The French didn’t mention this photo, where you can see how there are seven Frenchmen on the pitch when Mbappé scores a goal.”
Szymon Marciniak, the referee for the World Cup Final, has responded to @lequipe’s criticism that Lionel Messi’s second goal shouldn’t have counted:
“The French didn’t mention this photo, where you can see how there are seven Frenchmen on the pitch when Mbappé scores a goal.” pic.twitter.com/MW6y73iiLN
— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) December 23, 2022
It’s unclear from combing through footage which goal exactly Marciniak referencing, but if accurate then there’s no denying that the whole thing essentially becomes a moot argument.
While, yes, the laws of the game might state that a goal should be disallowed under these circumstances, can you just imagine the rage if two World Cup final strikes were chalked off based on a technicality that simply didn’t impact the game at all?
And that’s the point really, the referee should always have some level of discretion otherwise football matches could just turn into endless labyrinths of arbitrary rule following.
Who is Szymon Marciniak?
Marciniak, 41, is a former amateur footballer who became a FIFA-listed match official in 2011, refereeing matches in the Europa League, Champions League and UEFA World Cup qualifiers in the early 2010s.
The Płock-born official oversaw three matches at Euro 2016 and two games at the 2018 World Cup, before being chosen as the referee for the 2018 UEFA Super Cup between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Marciniak missed out on Euro 2020 as a result of being diagnosed with tachycardia after contracting COVID-19, before recovering to become the first Pole to official a men’s World Cup final.
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