Penalty Denied to Mbappé Against Senegal: Former Referee Sides with France

Kylian Mbappé scored a brace to secure France’s victory over Senegal in their World Cup opener, but referee Alireza Faghani’s decision continues to fuel controversy after the final whistle.

At the heart of the debate: contact between Sadio Mané and Mbappé in the Senegal penalty area, which the Australian referee, after consulting VAR, refused to penalize. Faghani ruled that Mané, who did not touch the ball on the play, had not sufficiently impeded the French striker to warrant the sanction.

Former international referee Saïd Ennjimi disagrees with this interpretation. “For me, it’s a penalty. Kylian Mbappé went through, Sadio Mané tries to tackle the ball but is late and blocks with his leg. Mbappé tries to get past Sadio Mané’s outstretched leg but is knocked off balance,” he told L’Équipe. He added: “The interpretation exists, the referee may have considered that Mbappé forced the contact, but I genuinely think he was in a completely natural position. And I therefore believe there was a penalty.”

The decision had no bearing on the result. Mbappé opened the scoring shortly after the hour mark from a Michael Olise cross, before doubling his tally with a long-range strike in the closing stages, after Senegal had pulled one back.

The striker himself preferred to focus on the victory rather than the refereeing incident. “You’re never at ease in a World Cup. We’ve seen with other teams, it’s difficult to start with a win,” he said. When asked about criticism directed at him, Mbappé brushed it aside: “There’s no revenge. If I start playing to silence everyone who criticizes me, I should play until I’m 80 years old.”