World Cup 2022: Controversy ensues as fans say Argentina's 3rd goal should not have stood

Argentina and France on Sunday played one of the most thrilling games in the history of the sport as they locked horns against each other in the final of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Argentine emerged as the eventual champions after they beat France 4-2 on penalties. Lionel Messi, who is considered the greatest footballer of all time, scored twice in the match to help Argentina win the prestigious tournament for the first time in 36 years. 

French forward Kylian Mbappe was also on fire as he scored a brace toward the backend to level the score with Argentina and force extra time. When Messi scored his team's third goal in extra time, Mbappe again responded with an equaliser to take the match into shootouts. However, Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni missed back-to-back penalties for France to hand Argentina a historic World Cup win.  

Meanwhile, French football fans are now crying foul and trying to create a controversy over Messi's final goal in the match. Many believe that Argentina's third goal shouldn't have been allowed citing the presence of substitute players on the field. They even shared pictures on social media showing a couple of Argentine substitutes had already entered the field before the goal was scored by Messi. 

Argentina vs France

Messi opened the scoring for Argentina as he converted a penalty in the 23rd minute. Angel Di Maria then scored the second goal for Argentina in the 38th minute to put his team 2-0 up against France. Argentina was leading the game by 2-0 going into half-time. However, two goals from France toward the backend forced the match to go into extra time. Messi and Mbappe both scored a goal each in extra time to force penalty shootouts, which Argentina won 4-2. 

Messi also broke a host of records as he registered a brace in the World Cup final. He became the first player in the world to win two Golden Ball awards in the tournament's history. Messi had won the player of the tournament award in the 2014 World Cup despite Argentina losing the final to Germany. Messi has also become the player with the most appearances, most minutes, and most goal contributions in World Cup history. 

Image: Twitter/FIFAWorldCup