Refereeing in a World Cup final is a responsibility of doing what is right, with two countries’ pride and hard work at stake. The final of the 2022 World Cup was no different from that. Polish referee Szymon Marciniak was given the responsibility to do justice on a dramatic night.
The Albiceleste and Les Bleus faced each other on the grandest night of all. Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria’s first-half goals gave a fair reflection of the first 45 minutes with a two-goal lead. Deschamps made two changes in the first half to have some control of the match, but it failed as well.
⏸ Goals from Messi and Di Maria give Argentina a half-time lead! #FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 18, 2022
France didn’t come alive until the 70th minute of the match. In the 78th minute, Otamendi’s clumsy challenge on one of the substitutes Kolo Muani earned France a lifeline. Mbappe took it with both hands. 2 minutes later, an exceptional side volley by the 23-year-old PSG superstar made it 2-2 from absolutely nowhere.
⚽️ 80′
⚽️ 81′An incredible turnaround! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/gkc3QboYCo
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 18, 2022
Inevitably the match went to extra time. The Argentine captain scored in the 105th minute to take the lead. The referee again pointed to the spot with 5 minutes remaining in the match and Kylian Mbappe for the third time scored in the match to take the parity back. Emiliano Martinez’s mind games won Argentina the unreal World Cup final match.
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 19, 2022
Szymon Marciniak awarded 3 penalties in the match. All 3 were converted as well. Anthony Taylor was the original choice to officiate the final match but later FIFA decided to replace him with the 41-year-old Polish.
Controversial decisions from referee Szymon Marciniak in the final, all you need to know about Szymon Marciniak
The level of refereeing in the World Cup has left the fans with a lot to desire for. Mateu Lahoz, who produced stunning 15 yellow cards in the controversial match against Argentina and Netherlands, was removed from the tournament altogether. Marciniak was involved in a suspicious incident last year in the Arab Cup. He added 9 minutes extra with almost no time wasted by either of the participating teams.
Szymon Marciniak poprowadzi finał mundialu 😍🇵🇱
𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗪𝗢❗𝗣𝗶𝗲̨𝗸𝗻𝗮 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/E0sVmTO57c
— TVP SPORT (@sport_tvppl) December 15, 2022
Ousmane Dembele’s foul in the France box on Di Maria was the most criticized decision by the fans. Messi has scored 4 penalty goals alone in this tournament and it creeped the fans out. They already believed that the World Cup is rigged for Messi to win it. The first penalty call made the claim stronger.
Referee should just put on an Argentina jersey and call it a day. At this point he’s not even hiding the bias.
— Paul Malignaggi (@PaulMalignaggi) December 18, 2022
Soccer fans have utterly applauded the non-penalty decision against Marcus Thuram. Thuram took a tumble inside the Argentine box to have another penalty but Marciniak had absolutely none of it. He showed a yellow card to Thuram for simulation play. Major neutral fans have described Marciniak’s performance as a brilliant one in the match while a lot of French fans smashed the referee for his bias towards Leo Messi’s Argentina.