Mendy, who saved Díaz’s penalty, attempted to downplay the controversy. “We’re not going to talk in the heat of the moment. Things happened, but in the end what matters is that football won,” Mendy said.
“Morocco has been waiting for this trophy for over 50 years. They had everything going for them, but we responded in our own way, and tonight we celebrate Senegal. We were determined to win this final, to bring the trophy home. Millions of Senegalese are happy, and we’re going to enjoy this. We need to put this controversy behind us.”
Gary Lineker, who was among the crowd in the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, said: “Not quite sure what I’ve just seen. I mean for a start, why VAR had to get involved, I really don’t know, it’s a stupid thing to do.
“Then it all kicked off, they didn’t look like they were going to play, they went into the tunnel, then they came back out eventually because of Sadio Mané – who was doing the right thing, the right thing.
“[It’s] kicking off in the crowd, the Senegalese fans are obviously deeply upset but it got very horribly violent. Well, he tried a Panenka and I’ve got a bit of history myself, but in those circumstances, standing around doing nothing for 15-20 minutes, crazy.”
A distraught Díaz posted on Instagram to apologise to his country for his extraordinary penalty blunder.
He wrote: “My heart aches. I dreamed of this title. Thanks to all the love you’ve given me, every message, every show of support that made me feel I wasn’t alone. I fought with everything I had, with my heart above all else. Yesterday I failed, and I take full responsibility and apologise from the bottom of my heart.
“It will be hard to recover, because this wound doesn’t heal easily, but I will try. Not for myself, but for everyone who believed in me and for everyone who suffered with me. I will keep going until one day I can repay all this love and be a source of pride for my Moroccan people.”