VAR once again took centre stage at the end of France’s match with Tunisia with the referee ruling Antoine Griezmann’s goal out for offside – despite having already blown for full time. Tunisia were on course for a famous win over World Cup favourites France after Wahbi Khazri gave them the lead midway through the second half.
But with Australia beating Denmark 1-0, Tunisia’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout phase were shattered. Deep into stoppage time in the game between France and Tunisia, players on the bench became aware that Australia’s match had already finished.
Their only saving grace was that they were going to end the tournament with a brilliant 1-0 win over France. But seconds after the Australia game had finished, Griezmann popped up with an equaliser for France in a cruel double blow for Tunisia.
Moments after France’s celebrations died down, the referee blew the final whistle. However, there was still time for more drama as FIFA’s VAR room indicated that the referee would need to have a look at Griezmann’s goal.
New Zealander Matthew Conger decided that he was going to go over to the screen after being told of a possible offside. Images on the screen soon indicated that Griezmann was in an offside position when the ball was played over the top of Tunisia’s defence.
The fact a Tunisian defender got to the ball first had no bearing on the decision as Griezmann’s goal was eventually ruled out. Tunisian supporters immediately erupted into cheer with the nation’s goalkeeper seen kneeling to the floor and kissing the ground.
The game was then restarted with a free-kick to Tunisia in their own box despite the full-time whistle already being blown. And the match official even added on some more time after the kick was taken with Tunisian players protesting for the whistle to be blown a second time.
The match eventually ended with Tunisian supporters once again breaking out into huge cheers despite the team being knocked out. France were always strong favourites to finish top whether or not they beat Tunisia.
Australia had to overturn a six-goal deficit to knock France off of top spot in Group D. Now both France and Australia will wait to find out their last 16 opponents with Mexico, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Poland all standing a chance of qualifying.
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