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As Argentinian shoulders were down in extra time after conceding two goals from France forward Kylian Mbappe, a Lionel Messi magic moment was the need of the hour. Messi scored on rebound after Hugo Lloris kept out Lautaro Martinez’s shot in the 108th minute. While the defender was too late to react and the referee’s watch lit up green to signal it was a goal, there is some late controversy surrounding the goal. France fans are crying foul as they pointed out that some of the Argentinian fans had stepped on the pitch even before Messi had scored.
Fans have been sharing screenshots of Argentinian substitutes crossing the line even before the ball had passed the goalline. They feel that the goal should have been disallowed.
While the three Argentinian players were not interfering with plan and their celebrations started early as soon as they saw Messi take the shot, it was against the rules. The substitutes can celebrate the goal with their teammates but only when the ball crosses the goalline.
However, 10 minutes later Mbappe scored the equaliser from the spot as Argentina conceded a penalty due to Gonzalo Montiel's handball. In the dying moments of the extra time, there was another attempt from France to score but Emiliano Martinez stood tall and kept the ball out.
After Mbappe’s historic hat-trick, the game went to penalties and France missed the services of Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann as they lost 2-4.
"We are very disappointed. We gave it our all," France defender Raphael Varane told TF1. "We faced a lot of obstacles during the competition, we fought until the end. We didn't give up.
"Today, for an hour, we were not in the game. We came back and we could have won too. Very proud of the French, of this group. We gave everything, we keep our heads high.
"We came back in this match when we were not in it, it was complicated. It played out very quickly. We came back and then physically, we were better than them.
"We started pushing and we believed in it. We were not far from managing to reverse the match which was badly started.
“There is mental strength in this group, a lot of heart. It allowed us to get to the final, but it wasn't enough to win.”
