Japan lost to France in the 2025 U-20 World Cup and missed the quarterfinals. The referee made a controversial decision and the reason for success or failure was

On October 9, the Japanese U-20 men’s football team faced the French team in the top 16 of the 2025 U-20 World Cup in Chile. The Japanese team created many opportunities throughout the game but failed to seize them. Instead, they were given a penalty kick in the second half of overtime and lost points, stopping in the top 16.

The controversial penalty was not awarded (confirmed by video replay)

It was the penalty in the 26th minute that had a major impact on the trend of the game. The Japanese team, with midfielder Oseki Tomohiro as the core, completely penetrated the left side of the penalty area and passed the ball to the center of the goal. Kanda Soma flew to grab the point. However, he was brought down by French defender Justin Bourgo and was unable to finish with his left foot.

The game was subsequently interrupted and the Japanese team requested replay to review whether a penalty kick should be awarded. The head referee Katia Garcia conducted a video replay review (there is no VAR in this tournament, but an application-based video replay system called FVS is allowed to be used up to two times per game). The screen showed that Kanda Souma's jersey was stretched and stretched, but after multiple confirmations, referee Garcia announced: "After review on the field, it was confirmed that Japan's No. 9 and France's No. 3 were pulling each other in the penalty area. The final decision There was no foul. "

Garcia's referee's decision was "no penalty kick"

Japanese media stated that U-20 Japanese team forward Kanda Soma (Kawasaki Frontale) fell to the ground in the penalty area. However, the referee did not award a penalty kick, and the video replay decision sparked controversy. Fans on social media were divided over the decision. One side believed that a penalty kick should be awarded, and made sounds such as: "Kanda's jersey is stretched!", "It's a foul on Kanda," "It's obviously pulling," "Although there was action, no penalty was awarded," "This should be a penalty," "It's a foul!", "No penalty!? Really or not...it's obviously pulling."

On the other hand, there are also voices that think the penalty is reasonable, saying: "Does it mean Kanda is also pulling the opponent? ", "Kanda himself should have realized it, and it interrupted the offensive momentum. This request is a bit wasteful ", "It is a pity to use up a request opportunity here. "、 " Is it a mutual pull? "

The Japanese team was scored by Luca Michel, who plays for Monaco,

The Japanese team failed to achieve its goal of reaching the U-20 World Cup quarter-finals again after 22 years. Japanese media said after the game that if the Japanese team could get this penalty kick at that time, the trend of the game would probably be very different, so this penalty is undoubtedly regrettable for the Japanese team.