Why Spain and Lamine Yamal penalty against France was the correct decision

· Yahoo Sports

It's not a stretch to call Spain's and France's duel in the men's World Cup semifinalthe matchup of the tournament. These are arguably the two best teams from top to bottom in the entire field. And in a match between such equal teams, one mistake can be fatal and the reason your World Cup dreams might end.

Enter a pivotal penalty decision in the 22nd minute that helped give Spain a 1-0 lead against their biggest international rival.

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On a 50-50 ball in France's goal box near the midway point of the first half, Spanish superstar Lamine Yamal tried to gain possession. As this happened, France's Lucas Digne inadvertently kicked Yamal right in the thigh. You quite obviously can't do that, particularly when defending by your net, and Spain was given a penalty that Mikel Oyarzabal would bury with ease.

Here's a close-up of the penalty on Yamal:

Here's a replay of Oyarzabal's clinical penalty to give Spain the early lead:

For some, the penalty decision was controversial because of what Yamal appeared to do while trying to win possession. The replay seems to show a possible handball by the Spanish superstar when the ball glances off his elbow. But because Yamal has his elbow tucked in on the challenge, FIFA's rules do not consider that a handball, making the offending penalty of Yamal getting kicked in the thigh by a defender the only real point of contention.

This could've been the case if Yamal had deliberately made himself "unnaturally bigger" to get the ball, but that was not the case.

It's a tough break for the French in such a big game, but it was ultimately the correct decision.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why Spain and Lamine Yamal penalty against France was the correct decision

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