The World Cup Final: France vs Croatia (Kickoff 16H00 BST)

[Jim Beam]

Why Griezmann's celebration is allowed?

 

[Rista]

VAR can feck off

 

[Jed I. Knight]

Handball rule should become less open to interpretation. No matter what angle you look at it. If you ask a thousand refs to judge this, they would probably be divided.

That’s just bad rule making.

Agree with that.

 

[Loublaze]

Pathetic. Worst world Cup ever.

Turn the TV off sweetheart!

 

[Revan]

Please let this be the end of VAR. Ridiculous decision.

 

[Nick7]

Please let this be the end of VAR. Ridiculous decision.

Yeah let's get rid of it cause it made the right decision

 

[Sigma]

Totally a penalty. Did he try to move his arm away? forget intention. His arm was in the way. Penalty

Except, intention is what it talks about in the rules, not whether it was 'in the way or not'.

 

[Buchan]

That's as touch and go a penalty as Perisic scoring an illegally high kick goal against England. Swings and roundabouts. You take them when given for you and against you.

Yep, that’s the beauty of football and why we all love it. The game would be boring if it was devoid of opinion and talking points.

 

[lococol]

Absolute joke. Where's he meant to put his hand exactly?

by his side or move it away from the ball. Its not hard to move your arm fast.

 

[Get In Scholesy]

Was that a “clear and obvious” error? No. VAR farce.

Exactly. The decision was pathetic.

 

[SqueakyWeasel]

So he’s going to score another 3?

No, goes to assist if they draw on 6

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Wrong call.

Arm in natural position, doesn't even see the ball coming.

Hope that VAR doesn't end up deciding a WC final - in the wrong way.

 

[Rado_N]

Agree it needs intention. From the replay from behind, does look like he's moving his arm down though?

He was jumping, it looked like entirely natural movement to me and there was never any intention to handle the ball.

Handball is the most misinterpreted rule in football.

 

[el3mel]

Ref is a joke never a pen in a million years, utter nonsense.

Clear pen. If that was United I would be screaming for it to be called.

Crap way to concede though.

 

[Ahsan_6386]

The French midfield is having a mare . Kante has been shocking and making error after error . Pogba is subpar,misplacing passes ,getting dispossessed ,seems nervous and only had one positive pass all game . Matuidi has been invisible .

And France have scored now through a penalty . They have been quite lucky in the match . First an own goal through a soft free-kick and now this . I guess the gods want France to win the world cup .

Croatia has been sensational and unlucky . Perisic,Rakitic and Modric have been great . I hope they equalise as they deserve it .

 

[Ramshock]

@Ramshock - speaking of the devil

Its his WC final so far

 

[Gio]

There is no “natural position” when you’re jumping in the air. These kind of things should never ever ever be penalties.

This. A feck up on the biggest stage of all.

 

[Art]

Perisic is feasting on Pavard.

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

Two goals for Griezmann!

 

[pocco]

Lovren is such a sack of shit. So error prone and causes panic.

 

[Grylte]

VAR can feck off

VAR gave the ref the possibility to judge it right, he didn't.
Not VAR's fault the ref is an idiot.

 

[championo]

referee is going to ruin this game.

 

[Carolina Red]

Its his WC final so far

No doubt. For good and bad.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

But it's instinctive which makes it intentional surely?
He completely follows through with the slap as well, it's not exactly ball to hand in the strictest sense.

You honestly believe his instincts and reactions are so good that he can guess when someone will miss a header and adjust his arm accordingly

 

[Scarlett Dracarys]

Fcuk me are France the luckiest team in history? An own goal scored off a blatant dive, & a very soft penalty given. Football is really cruel at times

I don't think Russia wants Croatia to win on Russian soil.

 

[Sigma]

Was that a “clear and obvious” error? No. VAR farce.

I agree. I don't think it should have been reviewed by the referee as it wasn't clear and obvious in my opinion.

 

[Offside]

Clear pen. If that was United I would be screaming for it to be called.

Crap way to concede though.

How is that a clear pen when it’s clearly not deliberate?

 

[EyeInTheSky]

Damn. Unfortunate own goal and very debatable penalty.

They have had to come back time and again under adversity in this tournament. Can they possibly do it again?

 

[Jim Reaper]

the little movement between the hand and knee shows that he tried to disguise it after it happened. it hits his hand as he moves it towards the ball and realises then moves his knee towards his hand to try and disguise it. i may be wrong but thats my interpretation from what ive seen so far.

 

[WelshManc]

Yeah let's get rid of it cause it made the right decision

It didn't though

 

[FrantikChicken]

I said England were shit, not sure what else you want me to say on that matter.

Doesn’t detract from the fact Croatia are also very average. They don’t get to the final if they weren’t in the same side of the draw than England.

Maybe not, we'll never really know. They did manage to beat what was put in front of them however.

 

[africanspur]

Got to feel for Croatia here, think both goals were very harsh

 

[Annihilate Now!]

by his side or move it away from the ball. Its not hard to move your arm fast.

He literally had a split second after Matuidi missed the header... No one is that fast

 

[lococol]

Forget intention? So ignore the rules?

How can you prove whether or not there was any intention? They are all good actors. He could have moved his arm out of the way. No problem

 

[doodle]

referee is going to ruin this game.

This referee should be sacked

 

[el3mel]

How is that a clear pen when it’s clearly not deliberate?

How many handballs have been given a pen when it wasn't deliberate ? Loads of them.

The handball rule was always flawed. This isn't exception.

 

[TheReligion]

It's a penalty. Got the right decision in the end so who cares.

 

[100]

Maybe Mourinho has been after Perisic as a replacement for DDG? I don't think I've ever seen someone with better reflexes.

 

[Offside]

How many handballs have been given a pen when it wasn't deliberate ? Loads of them.

The handball rule was always flawed. This isn't exception.

Yeah I agree with you on that.

 

[John Johnson]

Obvious penalty. He moved his hand towards the ball

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

France would be more deserving winners