Why Argentina World Cup penalty was awarded by VAR before shock Lionel Messi miss

FootballSports
23 Jun 2026 • 1:17 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Why Argentina World Cup penalty was awarded by VAR before shock Lionel Messi miss

  • Argentina were awarded a penalty inside the opening eight minutes of their World Cup clash against Austria on Monday.
  • The referee initially waved away Argentina’s penalty appeal, as Lautaro Martinez went down following a challenge by two Austria defenders.
  • Replays showed that one of the Austria defenders appeared to get the ball, but the other one seemed to make contact with Martinez’s ankle, forcing him to go down.
  • Following a lengthy VAR review, the referee was advised to check his pitchside monitor, and he subsequently awarded a penalty against the player who failed to get the ball.
  • Lionel Messi had the chance to become the all-time World Cup leading goalscorer, but he shockingly put his penalty wide of the target to keep the scoreline at 0-0.

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