The World Cup semifinal between Spain and France was finely poised at 0-0 heading toward the hydration break. But a seemingly innocuous challenge from Lucas Digne on Lamine Yamal changed the flow of the game. And replays sparked debate after some analysts argued Yamal had initiated the contact.
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“Absolutely stupid to award that penalty to Spain. It’s against the philosophy of the game,” Italian analyst Tancredi Palmeri said on X.
“Lamine Yamal just threw himself blindly, hoping to be kicked, not even playing the ball. Ref Ivan Barton is not fit for such a challenge.”
Things seemed fine, but only until Marc Cucurella sent a cross in from the left, and Lucas Digne moved to deal with it. He headed the ball up, set himself to clear it first-time, and never saw Lamine Yamal arriving. The Barcelona forward got there first, nicked it away from him, and ended up on the ground after getting caught in the torso.
Referee Iván Barton didn’t hesitate in giving out a penalty, though it still had to clear VAR. The replays told an interesting story: Yamal had controlled the ball with his upper arm as he jumped, but because the contact came above the sleeve line, it was ruled to be within the laws of the game.
Mikel Oyarzabal converted the penalty to give Spain an early lead. France was rattled and never got its footing back. Pedro Porro then made no mistake to make it 2-0 in the second half and put the match beyond France’s reach. Despite Kylian Mbappé coming close for France, the 2018 World Cup winners had no way in. The reigning European champions, Spain, got the job done clinically.
However, the penalty call was dissected by multiple personalities. “They gotta do something about these penalties. You play 90 minutes of soccer, and then ridiculous penalties decide the game,” Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, said.
The World Cup has been filled with controversial penalty calls that often split opinions. From Belgium’s late game-winning penalty against Senegal to Harry Kane giving away a penalty with a similar kick against Mexico in the round of 16 clash.
However, the result will overshadow the controversy that could potentially erupt. Spain made its first World Cup final after 16 years and will be awaiting their opponents.
They will meet the winner of the Argentina-England semifinal on 19th July. Argentina is set to take on England in a high-risk game at the World Cup on Wednesday.
