The incomprehension won all the actors of the Tunisia-France meeting (1-1).
While the Blues thought they had snatched the draw thanks to a goal scored by Antoine Griezmann in added time, an unlikely turnaround took place at the end of the match.
We then play the 98th minute of play, the men of Didier Deschamps, authors until then of a very pale match, have just celebrated the goal of the Atletico de Madrid player and the New Zealand referee Matthew Conger whistles in the stride the three blows that signify the end of the match.
We think the case folded and have witnessed a burst of pride from the France team in this World Cup.
But the video referee decides otherwise and asks the 44-year-old referee to verify the action that led to this goal.
For one or two minutes, Conger reviews the action and dwells in particular on the placement of number 7 of the Blues.
The latter is in an offside position when Aurélien Tchouameni crosses in his direction.
If Griezmann does not touch the ball, unlike Tunisian defender Talbi who heads it in his direction, Conger believes that Griezmann takes advantage of his position at the start of the action to stand out and then score the equalizer .
World Cup 2022 - Qatar
Group D
Tunisia 1 - 0 France
⚽️ Khazri Wahbi goal 58¨ ❌
Griezmann goal canceled for an offside position 98¨#WorldCup2022 #QatarWorldCup2022 #coupedumonde2022 #Qatar2022 #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/ HcwVqHX7ib
— Auto-moto SportNet 🇧🇪 (@romefabrice62) November 30, 2022
“He is in an offside position at the start of the action, he comes back and seems to take advantage of his initial position to score, explains Bruno Derrien, former international referee and consultant for New World TV.
I had my doubts at first.
The Tunisians claimed a foul on air contact just before so I thought VAR was involved for that.
But when we review the images, we see that Griezmann is in front.
The referee considers that on the center, he influences the game and in particular the Tunisian defender.
It's always a question of interpretation.
Besides, nobody says anything after the fact because the images are clear.
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"I had no intention of playing the center"
The law on the return from offside is clear: it is an offense if "a player returning from an offside position or standing in an offside position is in the path of an opponent and interferes with the movement of the opponent towards the ball, this is considered an offside offense if it influences an opponent's ability to play or challenge for the ball (in this case Griezmann on Talbi);
if the player obstructs and obstructs the progress of an opponent (for example if he blocks the opponent), the infraction must be sanctioned in accordance with Law 12. " Clearly, the referee considers that the Tunisian defender wouldn't have missed his header if Griezmann hadn't been in an offside position beforehand.
Read alsoTunisia-France (1-0): TF1 goes on the air before the cancellation of Griezmann's goal ... Story of a confused end to the match
After the encounter, Griezmann didn't deny being in an offside position when the ball leaves Tchouameni's feet but explained that he didn't want to dispute the ball.
“On the center, I am offside.
But it does not matter.
I told him (to the referee) that I had no intention of playing the center, but the defender misses his gesture and that's why I take it back, said Griezmann after the meeting on TF1.
It's complicated to play these matches when you've qualified, there have been a lot of changes in the team.
The most important thing is the match that is coming.
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This is not the first time that VAR has intervened after the referee signaled the end of the match.
In October 2022, Clément Turpin awarded a penalty to Atletico de Madrid against Bayer Leverkusen, in the Champions League, after a hand from the Germans in the penalty area, when he had meant that the match was over.
In September 2020, a similar case took place in the Premier League with a penalty scored by Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) against Brighton, despite the final whistle signaled a few seconds before.
