Lionel Messi has World Cup penalty saved as ‘justice’ served following soft VAR decision

Lionel Messi had a first-half penalty saved against Poland with fans branding it “justice” following an unbelievably dubious VAR call.

The Argentine was deemed to have been whacked in the face by Poland keeper Wojciech Szczesny as he jumped to meet Julian Alvarez’s floating cross, but everyone on social media was convinced that Poles had been done dirty, with Szczesny’s arm barely making contacting with the PSG man.

It didn’t matter in the end as Messi’s firm left-foot blast was brilliantly palmed away by Szczesny, but that didn’t stop fans raging about it online.

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“That is never a penalty! Not in a million years! What footage are the VAR guys watching?” one fan tweeted. Another said: “Justice served there, how was given as a penalty?”

A third admitted: “I want Messi to win the World Cup but even I was angry with that decision,” while another supporter fumed: “If VAR thinks that is a penalty then that whole team needs the sack, shocking! The bias towards Messi is unreal.”

Was that the worst VAR call of the World Cup so far? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Messi is one goal away from tying Gabriel Batistuta’s Argentina World Cup scoring record, having matched Diego Maradona’s total during Saturday’s 2-0 win over Mexico.

A win would see Argentina top the group and face Australia in the last-16, though anything but three points could see them crash out of the tournament.

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