World champion protests: France's supposed equalization has consequences

Defending champion France goes into the group finals at the World Cup with a B-Elf - and the favorite loses to Tunisia.

World champion protests: France's supposed equalization has consequences

Defending champion France goes into the group finals at the World Cup with a B-Elf - and the favorite loses to Tunisia. There is trouble about a hit that is taken back after the supposed final whistle. The French do not want to accept that.

According to the French Football Association, a protest against the 1-0 defeat in the last World Cup group game against Tunisia will be lodged in good time. The reason for this is the fact that referee Matt Conger gave the French equalizer in the eighth minute of stoppage time and called off the game, but after the intervention of the video assistant, the goal was denied due to an offside position by shooter Antoine Griezmann.

The game continued briefly and ended 1-0 for Tunisia. The French association announced on Wednesday evening that the goal was "wrongly" withdrawn. The protest is currently being worked out and must be received no later than 24 hours after the game. Goal scorer Griezmann was clearly offside, the protest is directed solely against the allegedly incorrect continuation of the game.

France coach Didier Deschamps had already questioned the legitimacy of the decision at the press conference after the game. "I don't know all the rules," he had said, "but the referee blows his whistle, then the VAR comes. I didn't know that was allowed. Did you know that that was allowed?"

The decision would have no influence on progression and the further course of the tournament. France would be group winners even if they lost 1-0, and Australia's parallel win against Denmark meant Tunisia were eliminated anyway despite the win.

France had deservedly lost the game, due to numerous changes compared to the first two games, the world champion, who had already qualified for the round of 16, was on the verge of distorting the competition: National coach Didier Deschamps changed his team nine positions.

"I'm not going to criticize anyone," said Deschamps: "Yes, we could have done better. But I remain calm and relaxed. We have achieved our goal." Games at this World Cup are "no longer 90-minute games, but 105-minute games," said Deschamps, referring to the long stoppage times. That's why the break is all the more important for some players. In the end, however, neither the supposed equalizer nor the nomination of a B team had any influence on the final table of group D.