Scotland missed out on a ‘very clear penalty’ in their World Cup loss to Morocco
Scotland faced a tough 1-0 loss against Morocco in their Group C match, and there was some controversy too. A former referee said Scotland missed out on a “very clear penalty” in the second half.
Morocco, the North African team, scored early in the game thanks to Ismael Saibari, which gave them the win and pushed them to the top of the group—for a little while at least. This win was historic for Morocco as they moved closer to getting the best spot in the next World Cup stage.
Steve Clarke’s Scotland found it hard to break through Morocco’s defense. Although Scotland tried six shots, none were on target. The stats say they deserved to lose, but Scotland felt unlucky not to get a penalty late in the game when they were putting pressure on Morocco.
The moment in question happened when Scott McTominay went down in the box under pressure from Neil El Aynaoui. It looked like the Moroccan player touched McTominay’s lower leg. But the referee, Ilgiz Tantashev, didn’t call a penalty and the VAR team didn’t step in either, showing they thought the referee’s decision was right.
However, former referee Christina Unkel said after the match on ITV that she believed it was a clear foul. She explained how the VAR should have looked at whether the ball was touched first, and since it wasn’t, the trip should have been called a penalty. She called it a “missed incident” by the VAR and the referee.
Duncan Ferguson also agreed, saying, “It was a penalty. There was a big touch, and McTominay goes down.” On the other hand, Roy Keane disagreed, saying, “I don’t think it’s a penalty. Simple as that. I think he’s looking to go down.”
Among the British pundits, Keane was the only one against the penalty call. Meanwhile, the panel on RTE and Keane’s fellow Irish experts—Kevin Doyle, Stephen Hunt, and Stephen Kelly—all felt Scotland should have been awarded a penalty.