FIFA denied France’s unusual request in advance of the World Cup quarterfinal match against England.
After losing their third and final group stage, England Quarterfinal, France appealed to FIFA to reverse the decision to deny an injury-time goal they scored against Tunisia. However, their appeal was dismissed. Antoine Griezmann believed he had scored a late equalizer for Les Bleus, who were playing with a significantly altered lineup because they had already qualified for the round of 16.
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The current world championship holders struggled, though, as Wahbi Khazri handed Tunisia the lead in a crucial game for his country. It seemed like a late finish had cruelly dashed those chances of finishing in second place, but it was ruled out, and Australia’s victory over Denmark meant they had to settle for third place instead of second.
French Football Federation (FFF)
In a weird turn of events, the French Football Federation (FFF) requested to have the disallowed goal overturned again after what appears to be an error on the part of the officials. Even though defender Montassar Talbi headed the ball before it landed in the path of the Atletico Madrid forward Griezmann, the initial decision was overturned because it was determined that Griezmann was playing from behind the line.
However, this was not the primary issue for France, as they complained about the protocols defined by the VAR when reviewing the goal. However, there was a kick-off and another whistle for full-time shortly after, which invalidated any possibility of a check being made after full-time. If it had been full-time immediately after it ruled the goal out, then it could have been reviewed after full-time.
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee
In response to France’s claim, England Quarterfinal FIFA world cup has issued the following statement: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has dismissed the protest submitted by the French Football Association concerning the Tunisia v. France FIFA World Cup match that was played on November 30.”
The choice to appeal the goal is peculiar when one considers that the outcome of the appeal will have very little to do with how things turn out for Les Bleus in the competition. It would award them an additional point in the group stages, but the rankings for either them or Tunisia wouldn’t change due to any of those outcomes.
Even though France’s appeal was turned down, the nation must now redirect its focus to the World Cup quarterfinals, where it will compete against England. Didier Deschamps will have high hopes that he can lead his squad to back-to-back championships, which would make them only the third team in history to accomplish this feat.