HAALAND CRITICISES THREE-MINUTE PENALTY DELAY AFTER MBAPPE MISSES SPOT KICK

Erling Haaland commented on a VAR review delay during France's World Cup quarterfinal match against Morocco. Referee Facundo Figueroa checked with VAR for three minutes and 11 seconds before allowing Kylian Mbappé to take a penalty kick awarded in the 25th minute after Noussair Mazraoui fouled Mbappé in the box. Mbappé missed the penalty, with goalkeeper Yassine Bounou making a save. Haaland, watching from his team hotel, posted on social media that "need to wait 5 minutes to take a penalty is way too long".

Mbappé's miss ended his streak of 15 successful penalties for club and country since 2020. The delay appeared to affect Mbappé's concentration, with the France forward arguing with the referee after the miss. The penalty, had it gone in, would have given Mbappé his eighth World Cup goal and tied him with Lionel Messi at the top of the scoring charts. Haaland had recorded seven World Cup goals in his debut tournament at that point.

France progressed to the semi-final despite Mbappé's penalty miss. The forward scored a curling goal in the 60th minute from an assist by Désirée Doucé, then set up Ousmane Dembélé six minutes later to secure a 2-0 victory. Roy Keane, speaking after the match, described the penalty delay as "unfair" and stated it was "not right". France's next opponent was to be determined by the Spain-Belgium quarterfinal result.