📸 Hit on Mbappé: did Paraguay get away with one here? | OneFootball

Controversy in the World Cup round of 16 between Paraguay and France: Were the South Americans lucky in this situation? During France’s build-up play, Matías Galarza struck Kylian Mbappé, who then went down. 

However, the referee did not call a foul. The VAR did not intervene either. 

Refereeing expert Patrick Ittrich said on 'Magenta TV' that he had already wondered during the live footage why the Paraguay star hit Mbappé. “That is a crystal-clear strike. It’s not the typical kind of violent conduct. But if you look at it from a rules perspective, it happened well away from the ball. He makes a fist and strikes him toward the shoulder. For me, by the letter of the law, that’s a red card,” Ittrich explained. An “attempted act of violent conduct” was still “violent conduct,” he added. 

Although referees have been letting more go at this World Cup, Ittrich said he would have liked to see VAR step in on this occasion. 

What do you think: foul or not? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments. 

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 JEWEL SAMAD - AFP or licensors