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Kylian Mbappe admitted he lost his concentration before missing a penalty in the first half during France's 2-0 win over Morocco in the quarter-finals, after a long and unusual VAR review delayed the spot-kick by more than three minutes.

The French captain explained that the referee initially awarded the penalty and confirmed that the VAR review was complete, allowing Ousmane Dembele to hand him the ball.

However, as Mbappe was preparing to take the kick, the referee stopped him again because another incident that had occurred two minutes earlier was still under review.

Mbappe said: 'I didn't strike it well. Then it became complicated because of confusion. The referee tells me it's a penalty, so I ask him if the VAR check is complete, and he says yes. From that moment, we move forward with Ousmane who gives me the ball. Then he comes to me while I'm at peak concentration to tell me there is no penalty. So I no longer know what's happening. I take the ball in my hands and place it on the spot to convince myself there is a penalty, but he tells me no, wait, there is an incident from two minutes ago that we have to review.'

Mbappe took responsibility for missing the penalty, but acknowledged that the situation was unlike anything he had experienced before: 'But then I allowed myself to lose focus. Of course, I have many scenarios about how to maintain concentration when taking a penalty, but I have never faced this scenario before. It is a scenario you have to take into account, because the referee may tell you it's a penalty and then come back two minutes later to tell you it's not a penalty. I don't know how long it took. This is part of the new football. It's the new football with VAR, and you have to adapt.'

Despite missing the penalty, Mbappe later scored France's first goal, as 'Les Bleus' secured a 2-0 victory to advance to the World Cup semi-finals.

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