Amid Controversy Over Lionel Messi's 2nd Goal in FIFA WC Final, Referee Admits To Making 1 Mistake

Lionel Messi's second goal in the FIFA World Cup final became the subject of controversy after claims of it being 'illegitimate' emerged. The FIFA World Cup final referee has now broken his silence on the matter.

The FIFA World Cup final between France and Argentina ended with the South Americans beating the defending champions 4-2 on penalties. While Argentina were better than the French for the most part of the game, Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick turned the match into a spectacle, with the penalty shootout eventually being the deciding factor. After Argentina lifted the trophy, a controversy, however, struck as claims of Lionel Messi's second goal (in the extra-time) being illegitimate emerged. The FIFA World Cup final referee, however, has now broken his silence on the matter. 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

Leading French publication L'Equipe had run an article: "Why Argentina's third goal shouldn't have been awarded". In the article, it wrote, “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.”

Speaking to the media, the Polish referee Szymon Marciniak suggested that while French publications went gaga over Argentina substitutes entering the field before the goal was given, they didn't mention anything about French substitutes doing the same for one of Mbappe's goals in the match.

"The French didn't mention this photo, where you can see how there are seven Frenchmen on the pitch when Mbappé scores a goal," he told Polish media, as suggested by Express UK.