"Conspiracy to push Messi to win": Mbappé delays penalty kick by '3 minutes 10 seconds' → misses, French fans 'furious'... "Are Argentine referees playing games?"

*This content was translated by AI.

After French ace Kylian Mbappé missed a penalty kick, claims emerged that Argentine referees excessively delayed the match.

The UK's "The Sun" reported on the 10th (Korean time) that "the refereeing team delayed Mbappé's penalty kick by more than three minutes, and fans are accusing the tournament of being rigged."

France defeated Morocco 2-0 in the 2026 FIFA North America World Cup Round of 16 match held at Boston Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA. France will face the winner of the Spain-Belgium match on the 15th in the semifinals.

Kylian Mbappé overcame the regret of missing a penalty kick in the 25th minute of the first half and led his team to victory with one goal and one assist. He scored in the 15th minute of the second half with a right-footed curling shot after receiving a pass from Desire Doue, and assisted Ousmane Dembélé's additional goal in the 21st minute.

Mbappé, who has scored eight goals in this tournament, now shares the top scoring position with Lionel Messi, who has yet to play in the Round of 16.

Mbappé's missed penalty kick on this day sparked significant controversy. The media reported that "Moroccan defender Noussair Mazraoui fouled Mbappé. It was clearly a penalty situation, but the refereeing team delayed the match for a full 3 minutes and 10 seconds under the guise of reviewing the decision. Eventually, Mbappé, whose rhythm was broken, weakly shot to the left side of the goal, and Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou easily caught it."

It was further reported that "this was only the second missed penalty kick in 16 attempts by Mbappé while wearing the national team jersey. It was a painful mistake after five years since March 2021 against Kazakhstan."

The core of the controversy lies in the nationality of the refereeing team. For the first time in this tournament, FIFA assigned all referees from a single country. Referee Facundo Tello and his assistants, along with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) team, are all from Argentina. Since Argentina competed against France for the championship in the 2022 Qatar World Cup final, suspicions have grown even stronger.

Fans strongly protested via social media. According to media reports, fans reacted with comments such as "the referees deliberately delayed the penalty kick," "it's a trick to make France lose," and "they trapped the player through intentional delay."

Football experts also joined the criticism. ITV commentator Roy Keane stated, "It is unfair to make an attacker wait for three minutes under extreme pressure," and added, "Waiting time is the enemy of attackers; this unjust action gives an advantage to goalkeepers." Fellow commentator Ian Wright pointed out, "The longer the waiting time, the more players begin to doubt their own kicks and lose concentration."

If both France and Argentina win in the semifinals, they will meet in the final. In the 2022 World Cup final four years ago, Mbappé scored a hat-trick and Lionel Messi netted two goals, leading Argentina to victory via penalty shootouts.

This is not the first controversy over match-fixing allegations in this tournament. Egypt, which lost 2-3 to Argentina on the 7th, also claimed biased refereeing. The Egyptian Football Association submitted an official protest to FIFA and demanded the immediate removal of the referees from the tournament.

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*This content was translated by AI.