Why did France replace 7 people in the 2022 World Cup final?
When Axel Disasi replaced right-back Jules Kounde in the 120th minute, coach Didier Deschamps made a total of seven substitutions in the final at Lusail Stadium yesterday. This is one player more than the usual rule: up to five players in two overtimes, and six if two extra periods are played.
The exception this time relates to a new injury rule applied by FIFA. Accordingly, if a player has a problem in the head area, the team has the right to make a substitution that is not considered a normal substitution. In the case of France, the player involved is Adrien Rabiot. After colliding with Julian Alvarez in the 88th minute, the French midfielder had a problem in the head area and could not continue playing. Coach Deschamps was forced to replace Rabiot with Youssouf Fofana in the 96th minute and the referee did not consider it a normal substitution.
The International Football Committee IFAB, the governing body of football law, allows the trial of replacing more head injury players from 2020. In February 2021, the English Premier League, the tournament has many head injuries, pioneer in adoption.
Before Rabiot, coach Deschamps replaced Ousmane Dembele and Olivier Giroud for poor performance from the 41st minute with Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram. In the 71st minute, he continued to launch King Coman and Eduardo Camavinga to replace Antoine Griezmann and Theo Hernandez. After Fofana replaced Rabiot, he replaced Rafael Varane and Kounde with Ibrahima Konate and Disasi. Meanwhile, Argentina replaces six players according to the usual regulations.
This match, Argentina entered the excitement, leading two goals in the first half thanks to Messi's penalty and a double goal from Di Maria. From the second half of the second half, France suddenly exploded and equalized 2-2 thanks to Mbappe's double in 97 seconds. After Messi cushioned the ball to raise the score to 3-2 minutes 109, his PSG teammate Mbappe continued to equalize for France with another penalty in the 118th minute.
After more than 120 minutes of a 3-3 draw, the two teams had to take a penalty shootout. Mbappe and Muani completed the task for France, but two teammates Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni missed. Meanwhile, Messi, Paulo Dybala, Leandro Paredes and Gonzalo Montiel hit all four of Argentina's goals.
With a 4-2 victory, Argentina won its third World Cup. They had two titles in 1978 and 1986. Meanwhile, France stopped with two titles in 1998 and 2018.
