Bizarre moment World Cup referee reverses free-kick decision in France vs Spain as ITV commentators left baffled

ITV commentators were left in disbelief after the referee reversed a free-kick decision in the World Cup semi-final between France and Spain.

Mikel Oyarzabal scored the only goal of the first half with a well-taken penalty after Lamine Yamal was on the receiving end of a clumsy challenge from Lucas Digne inside the area.

But while that decision didn't draw many complaints, an incident later in the first half at the AT&T Stadium confused many.

Fabian Ruiz was absolutely seething after he was penalised for a foul outside the area on Ousmane Dembele.

Replay showed that Ruiz had not made contact with his Paris Saint-Germain colleague Dembele, who overstretched and fell into him.

On commentary, former Arsenal and Engladn defender Lee Dixon said the incident was "never a free-kick".

But then, in an unusual twist, the decision was completely reversed by referee Ivan Barton and no free-kick was awarded.

Lead commentator Sam Matterface stated, "I think the VAR has informed the referee of that. Which I'm not entirely sure was in our briefing".

Dixon then added, "That's not a thing!", with Matterface replying: "Ruiz I don't think was booked for it. Usually you can only do that if it's a case of mistaken identity. Maybe we'll consult with Christina Unkel. But the right decision was made in the end."

The free-kick was overturned. Image: DAZN

Ref expert gives explanation for why decision was changed

France manager Didier Deschamps looked stunned at how the free-kick had been overturned and for a while there was still no clear explanation for how the decision came to be reversed.

Some users on social media suspected that the fourth official or linesman communicated with the referee and made him aware that Dembele had merely fallen into Ruiz.

Things were then cleared up by the BBC's Dale Johnson, who specialises in referee situations.

Johnson claimed that there was no VAR intervention and that his assistant was responsible for changing the decision.

On X, he wrote: "The commentary team would not have a clue on this, they were trying to work out a confusing situation. They do not have a VAR audio feed like in the Premier League.

I'm told that the referee cancelled the free-kick on the advice of his assistant. Looked a strange one though.

"You are far more likely to see a referee take an assistant's advice BEFORE giving a decision. It is exceptionally rare to see a referee cancel a free-kick decision AFTER they have given it. Usually a referee just owns it.

"The referee appears to point to the assistant referee on the far side of the pitch, Antonio Pupiro, to indicate he has taken advice before doing a U-turn to a dropped ball."

VAR has had an increase in involvement at the World Cup, during corner kick and goal kick situations as well as mistaken identity and second yellows.

El Salvador referee Barton hit headlines earlier in the tournament for sending off Miguel Almiron for covering his mouth in a confrontational manner when in action for Paraguay against Turkey.

He was the first player to be punished by FIFA's new rule, before Arsenal's Piero Hincapie was sent off for the same offence in Ecuador's round of 32 loss to Mexico.