Furious fans slam controversial penalty decision as Lionel Messi fires Argentina into World Cup final lead vs France

Fans are furious after VAR did not intervene for Argentina’s controversial first-half penalty against France in the World Cup final on Sunday.

France star Ousmane Dembele brought down Argentina winger Angel Di Maria inside the box with the slightest bit of contact, which led to referee Szymon Marciniak pointing to the spot.

Despite the minimal contact, VAR did not overturn the decision and Argentina captain Lionel Messi stepped up for the subsequent spot-kick.

Argentina star Messi, who was tied in the race for the World Cup Golden Boot ahead of the final, expertly sent Hugo Lloris the wrong way by slotting into the bottom right corner.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner received a spine-tingling reception from fans inside the Lusail Stadium after opening the scoring for the 2021 Copa America champions.

However, fans were not impressed with the referee’s controversial penalty decision and voiced their frustrations on social media.

IT HAD TO BE HIM!!!! 🙌

Argentina erupts as Lionel Messi converts from the spot to put his country in the lead... 🇦🇷#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/eekK0kSPPD

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) December 18, 2022

“Soft penalty as per usual for Argentina,” one fan said.

Someone else commented: “There’s no way that’s a penalty.”

A third Twitter user posted: “Didn’t look like a penalty by the look of the replay. Why no VAR check?”

“Surely that needs to be looked at! Never a penalty for me, like,” a fourth said.

While a fifth added: “Can someone explain how was that a penalty, FFS?”

Argentina doubled their lead in the first half after Messi flicked the ball into the path of Julian Alvarez, who played Alexis Mac Allister through.

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Allister then played in a delightful low ball into the path of Di Maria, who fired a beautiful finish past a helpless Lloris.

France manager Didier Deschamps made the shock decision to take Olivier Giroud and Dembele off in the first half for Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani.

Argentina lead defending World Cup champions France 2-0 at half-time.

UPDATE: Lionel Messi and Co successfully secured a third World Cup star for Argentina after a thrilling penalty shootout win over 2018 champions France.