France Coach Deschamps Criticizes Lengthy Delay Before Mbappe's Missed Penalty

France's national team coach Didier Deschamps criticized the prolonged delay before Kylian Mbappe's penalty kick during their World Cup match against Morocco, which contributed to the Real Madrid striker missing the shot. Mbappe was given the chance to put France ahead in the first half, but his penalty was saved by Morocco's goalkeeper Yassine Bounou after waiting over three minutes for referee approval following a VAR review. Shortly after the miss, Mbappe expressed frustration toward the Argentine refereeing team.

Norwegian striker Erling Haaland also commented on the incident via social media, calling the wait "way too long." Deschamps agreed with Haaland, explaining that the VAR checks took about two minutes and disrupted Mbappe's readiness to take the penalty. Despite the missed opportunity, Mbappe redeemed himself in the second half by scoring a spectacular goal from outside the box, marking his 20th World Cup tournament goal and eighth in this edition.

Mbappe acknowledged the difficulty of the situation, noting the confusion around the VAR decision and the challenge of maintaining focus during the unexpected delay. France advanced to the World Cup semifinals for the third consecutive time and will face the winner of Spain versus Belgium in Dallas on July 14. Deschamps expressed pride in reaching the semifinals but emphasized the need to take one step at a time toward the ultimate goal of winning the final.