ITV Sport’s three-man punditry panel were in unanimous agreement that Argentina’s first-half penalty in their World Cup semi-final against Croatia should not have been awarded.
Lionel Messi opened the scoring with a lethal left-footed finish from the penalty spot after his strike partner Julian Alvarez collided with Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic inside the area. Messi converted the penalty to become Argentina’s record World Cup scorer.
Alvarez ran through on goal and lobbed the ball past the advancing Livakovic, who stopped in his tracks, with the Manchester City striker then colliding with the goalkeeper - leaving the referee no hesitation but to point to the penalty spot.
