Mbappé's Reaction to Julián Álvarez's Double Touch: They 'Stole' the World Cup from Him Like That

One of the focuses of debate in the match between Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid is the penalty by Julián Álvarez. The goal scored by Connor Gallagher in the first minute of the match took the game to extra time after 120 minutes of maximum effort by both clubs. The tie remained at the end of the extra time, so the fate of those round of 16 would be decided from the penalty spot.

The second kicker for Atlético de Madrid was a Julián Álvarez who scored his shot. Initially, nothing seemed out of place, but Szymon Marciniak soon received a warning. The '19' from Atlético had made a double touch just before the ball was shot and passed Thibaut Courtois.

The review of the play in the VAR left a very clear verdict: the goal by the striker from Calchín had to be invalidated due to the double touch rule. Real Madrid didn't miss the rest of the shots and Antonio Rüdiger certified the qualification of the merengue team for the quarterfinals. But that event during the penalty shootout wouldn't have been possible without Kylian Mbappé.

The '9' from Real Madrid closely followed the development of the shootout, watching the shots from both his team and the opponents. When Julián Álvarez scored his goal, the striker from Bondy had no doubts about what he had seen and quickly went to one of the field referees to notify him. Those doubts from Mbappé reached Szymon Marciniak as he received the warning from his compatriot in the VAR.

Relevant Correction

It's not surprising that Kylian Mbappé was alert to the shots in a penalty shootout of great significance like the one that occurred at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. Because the French forward missed out on achieving a historic feat two years ago, in Qatar, also due to a penalty with a double touch. The final of the Qatar 2022 World Cup was played between Argentina and France.

One of the reasons that match went to the penalty shootout was the opposite dynamics of both teams. Argentina dominated the first half, going 2-0 at halftime with a goal by Leo Messi from the penalty spot and a goal by Ángel di María, who forced that penalty. Szymon Marciniak was the referee of that final and in charge of the VAR was the same referee as in the Metropolitano: Tomasz Kwiatkowski.

The penalty that served to score Argentina's first goal during the 120 minutes was taken by Leo Messi, whose shot changed trajectory with a very clear double touch. Neither of the two Polish referees, despite the noteworthiness of the action, seemed to notice anything negative. Based on what was experienced in the Lusail final, whose memory still 'haunts' the merengue striker, Mbappé was very alert to the penalties.

His effort had a fair reward. On this occasion, Marciniak and Kwiatkowski did notice the double touch by Julián Álvarez in his shot to score a goal. Following the same rule that should have been applied on December 18, 2022, Szymon Marciniak decided to annul the goal scored by Julián Álvarez.