The baffling rule that meant Kylian Mbappe’s winner vs Spain stood

France beat Spain to Nations League title

France came from behind to beat Spain in controversial circumstances to claim the UEFA Nations League title on Sunday evening.

#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/FJ8BAJYQ41

— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) October 10, 2021

Les Blues were dealt a blow early on as Raphael Varane was forced off through injury, which you can read about here. They then fell behind midway through the second half, as Mikel Oyarzabal continued his rise to prominence by firing the ball past Hugo Lloris to make it three-goal contributions in two games for the Spaniard.

Spain have scored three goals in the Nations League finals:

️ Mikel Oyarzabal
️ Mikel Oyarzabal
⚽️ Mikel Oyarzabal

That man once again. pic.twitter.com/V2msGgMTsh

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 10, 2021

However, they were immediately fired back into the tie thanks to a sublime finish from Karim Benzema, curling the ball past a diving Unai Simon from the top of the box after being fed by Kylian Mbappe, a partnership Real Madrid fans will be hoping they see much more of if they can sign Mbappe this summer.

Controversial winner

It was Mbappe’s turn to become the goalscorer for Didier Deschamp’s side, having netted the winner against Belgium with a brilliant penalty four days prior.

However, it was a goal shrouded in controversy, with the French star seemingly in an offside position when the pass from Theo Hernandez was played. After a VAR check however, it was deemed that Eric Garcia had got a touch on the ball on the way through, making the PSG man able to take the ball without being penalised.

As Busquets very fairly pointed out, however, the offside rule in this case made no sense:

“the referee told us that Eric Garcia wanted to play the ball and that kills the offside… But he wanted to play the ball because the ball would have reached Mbappe who was offside! It doesn’t make sense!”

Busquets: “the referee told us that Eric Garcia wanted to play the ball and that kills the offside… But he wanted to play the ball because the ball would have reached Mbappe who was offside! It doesn’t make sense!” pic.twitter.com/imhepp236Z

— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) October 10, 2021

While the rule clearly benefitted France in this case, should it be changed going forwards to ensure that issues like this do not arise in future?

Read more:

Thibaut Courtois slams UEFA over nations league in astonishing post-match interview

Man United dealt Raphael Varane blow ahead of Leicester clash