Referee explains why Mbappe was denied a penalty against Senegal

A controversial refereeing decision in France’s match against Senegal centered on Kylian Mbappe, who was brought down in the penalty area. The referee did not award a penalty, was sent to the VAR monitor, but ultimately stood by his original call and gave a throw-in instead of a spot kick.

According to the referee’s explanation, the Real Madrid forward had initiated the contact with the Senegal defender. On that basis, the referee judged that the later contact was no longer relevant to the play, even though the VAR officials disagreed with him.

The incident was reported by Sport 5 and published on June 16, 2026, at 23:34. The episode took place during a France versus Senegal game and became a major point of debate over the no-penalty decision.