Kylian Mbappé was made to wait more than three minutes before taking his first-half penalty against Morocco in the quarter-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Boston Stadium in Foxborough.Mbappe won the penalty after Morocco defender Noussair Mazraoui challenged him in the box. Referee Facundo Tello immediately pointed to the spot, but the kick was delayed while the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) reviewed the incident.
Why was the sentence delayed?
The VAR team checked whether Mbappe had gone down before contact by Mazraoui. Although the referee initially awarded the penalty, he waited for confirmation after speaking with VAR official Hernan Mastrangelo.Mbappe had already taken his position to shoot, but was made to wait three minutes and 11 seconds before the review was completed.Once the penalty was awarded, the France captain stepped up, but his effort towards the right-hand side was comfortably saved by Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
Deschamps questions lengthy VAR review
France coach Didier Deschamps admitted the delay made things more difficult for his star striker.“I think there was a VAR review and then a second review that took two minutes. I’m not sure what happened.“It took some time and Kylian was ready to shoot. I don’t want to find excuses, but it was not an easy situation.”Despite missing the penalty, Mbappé bounced back in the second half to score France’s opening goal before setting up Ousmane Dembele for the second in a 2-0 win.
France advance to the semi-finals
The win against Morocco sends France into the semi-finals of the World Cup for the third tournament in a row. They will now face both Spain and Belgium for a place in the final.