Argentina vs France FIFA World Cup final: Messi scores after penalty VAR controversy - Reactions

Di Maria won a controversial penalty in the final between Argentina vs France.

France’s Ousmane Dembele, rear, fouls Argentina’s Angel Di Maria in the penalty box, giving Argentina a penalty shot during the World Cup final. | Photo Credit: AP

Argentina won a penalty in the 22nd minute of the final against France but the decision was highly controversial and divided social media.

Angel Di Maria broke into the France penalty area when he was appeared to have been tripped by Ousmane Dembele. The referee straight away pointed to the spot.

Messi took the spot kick and put the South American team ahead in the 23rd minute. This was Messi’s sixth goal in this World Cup and puts him in clear lead in the Golden Boot race.

What surprised fans and experts alike was that the referee did not take a VAR check for the decision. Hashtags such as Rigged and No VAR started trending on Twitter minutes after the decision was made.

This was not the first time Argentina has been criticised for penalty calls going in its favour. In the semifinal, Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic’s foul on Julian Alvarez’s was also termed as too soft to deem a penalty.

Earlier, in the group stage, Messi winning a penalty after a foul by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny also drew flak from social media.

Argentina consolidated on the opening goal and doubled the lead with a brilliant open play goal which too was finished by Angel Di Maria.

The first to arrive at the scene, who else but Piers Morgan:

Patrice Evra is afraid of the referees:

Joey Barton thinks it was a soft penalty:

Chess Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi is loving the overall performance irrespective of the penalty:

More to follow...