Lamine Yamal's Controversial Moment in World Cup Semifinal: Experts Clear the Air

The French vehemently protested, claiming Lamine Yamal had handled the ball before Lucas Digne's foul in the penalty area. They argued this should have led to a stoppage of play and a subsequent direct free-kick. However, the referee only awarded a penalty to Spain.

Mikel Oyarzabal confidently converted from the spot, putting his team ahead. Luis de la Fuente's squad then added another goal from Pedro Porro, securing a 2-0 victory and advancing to the final against a team that had impressed with their performances throughout the tournament.

After the match, experts revisited the controversial first-half incident. They concluded that the situation was quite clear, determining that the 19-year-old footballer's contact with the ball was within the rules.

"Can Lamine Yamal's handball before Digne's penalty challenge be reviewed? No. The Spaniard touches the ball with his arm, which is close to his body, and is then kicked by the defender. Since this results in a penalty, and not an immediate goal, VAR cannot review it," wrote the Archivo VAR profile on social media platform X.

A former American referee also unequivocally assessed the alleged handball. "This is a good situation for analysis. The contact occurred in the sleeve area of Yamal's jersey, and according to the rules, this is not considered part of the hand. The action would not be judged as an alleged handball, and the penalty was correctly awarded.

Similar to Harry Kane against Mexico and Luka Modric against England, the defender went into the challenge but had the option to avoid contact," explained Christina Unkel, who currently works as an ITV Sport expert.

Gary Neville also has no doubts. "Of course, he had to know where Yamal was. When you're defending a player of that quality, you constantly need to know his position. He completely lost control of the situation. He had no idea where Yamal was, and that's why he fouled him," stated the former England international, as quoted by sportsport.ba.