Szymon Marciniak: World Cup Final Referee Admits to Making Honest Mistake

• The referee who took charge of the 2022 World Cup final, Szymon Marciniak has confessed to an error
• Marciniak became the first referee from Poland to oversee the biggest game in world football last Sunday
• The 41-year-old rightfully awarded three penalties and booked French striker Marcus Thuram for diving without consulting VAR

Szymon Marciniak, the World Cup final referee, has admitted to a mistake he committed during the Grand Finale between Argentina and France.

Marciniak was singled out for praise by most fans and experts including the Chairman of the FIFA referees committee Pierluigi Collina for his inch-perfect calls.

Despite the ongoing rave about his diligence in unquestionably the best-ever final in World Cup history, Marciniak was quick to point out his own flaw.

"Of course, there were mistakes in this final," the 41-year-old Polish referee told Sport.PL.

From tears to laughter: Croatian fan celebrates WC victory over Brazil

Football

He continued: "I interrupted the French counter-attack after a bad tackle by Marcos Acuna.

"I was afraid that the fouled player wanted to unwind, and I read it wrong because nothing happened, and you could give an advantage and then come back with a card.

"It's hard. In a game like this, I take such a mistake in the dark. The important thing is that there were no big mistakes."

What actually happened?

It was not allowing the advantage to be played when Argentina left-back Marcos Acuna committed a foul, per SportBIBLE.

France were on the attack and in hindsight, referee Marcinak thinks allowing play to continue would have been the better option

Szymon Marciniak calls out critics

Szymon Marciniak has finally broken his silence on claims that Lionel Messi's extra-time goal in the World Cup final should have been disallowed.

Yaya Toure's curse: What is it, the story behind it and is it true?

Football

Marciniak, who has been lauded by many for his near-perfect decisions in the finals of the World Cup, was accused of incompetence by the French media in the epic encounter between Argentina and France.

According to French media, Messi's extra-time goal shouldn't have stood due to the encroachment of Argentina substitutes on the pitch.

Argentina wins World Cup final

Sports Brief earlier reported that Argentina defeated France 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out to win the World Cup for the third time on Sunday.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi scored twice and France striker Kylian Mbappe hit a hat-trick as a thrilling World Cup final finished 3-3 after extra time at the Lusail Stadium.

In an extraordinary night of high drama, Argentinian substitute Gonzalo Montiel stroked home the winning spot-kick to seal an agonising shoot-out loss for defending champions France.