Leo Messi’s second goal in the Qatar 2022 World Cup final won on penalties by Argentina against France had to be disallowed. The French newspaper L’Equipe dissects the final played yesterday: the match ended 2-2 in the 90 regular minutes, then ended 3-3 after extra time and the epilogue came on penalties. According to L’Equipe, the goal in Argentina’s provisional 3-2 draw was marred by an irregularity: “It should have been disallowed by the match referee, Szymon Marciniak.” The reason? The newspaper publishes an image taken from inside the French goal: Jules Kunde tries in vain to reject the ball kicked by Messi and replies when the ball has already crossed the goal line. However, before the ball enters the net, says L’Equipe, Argentina’s reserves are already on the pitch: according to the regulations, writes the newspaper, goals to be cancelled.
The regulation, in particular, establishes that “if, after a goal has been scored, the referee realizes, before play restarts, that there was an extra person on the field of play when the goal was been scored: the referee disallows the goal if the additional person was: a player (entered or returned without authorisation), substitute, substituted or sent off or a team official who scored the goal; play is restarted with a direct free kick from where the extra person was standing.”
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