Antoine Griezmann has never been known for his grace in victory. That continued at Sunday's World Cup final between France and Croatia. After scoring a goal off of a penalty kick to put France up 2-1 over Croatia, Griezmann celebrated with a dance well-known to gamers around the world.
It was no less rage-inducing at the World Cup.
Calm, cool and collected from Griezmann! 😎
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 15, 2018
The Frenchman slots home the penalty to put France back up 2-1. pic.twitter.com/13AAg5GI34
#MundialTelemundo Así celebró @AntoGriezmann el gol que pone en ventaja a #FRA 2-1 sobre #CRO pic.twitter.com/Weqf1PAx5y
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 15, 2018
Yeah, that's Fortnite's "Take the L" dance at the World Cup. What a time to be alive. Griezmann has had a great Cup by any metric. He has four goals, tied with several players for second most in the tournament, and he has been absolutely unflappable from the penalty-kick spot. He's only 27 years old, and he's been a key component on a France team that has had a ton of different quality attackers.
It's hard not to see this and be grumpy. It's one of the few times I've felt grumpy myself at something players do, so Griezmann deserves credit for that. Unsurprisingly, the dance rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.
Griezmann is one of the most shameless footballers around.
— Dharma Bhagalia🇭🇷 (@Kloppholic) July 15, 2018
Griezmann you scored a penalty thats like winning in Fortnite with no kills, relax
— Mexican GBE Leader (@vuhsace) July 15, 2018
Griezmann doing the Fortnite L celebration in a World Cup final is the most disgusting thing you’ll ever see.
— Xav Salazar (@XavsFutbol) July 15, 2018
Griezmann should get a red card for the fortnite celebration. Sorry.
— YankeeGunner (@YankeeGunner) July 15, 2018
Griezmann doing Fortnite dances in the World Cup final. The beautiful game is ruined
— モスタファ (@MostMo) July 15, 2018
However, to other people, it's just gamesmanship.
Griezmann doing the Hold the L dance from Fortnite lmao he really knows how to induce maximum salt, I respect it
— Colin (@IntroSpecktive) July 15, 2018
Fortnite is probably the most popular game in the world, so it makes some sense that we'd see it at the World Cup. But it's entirely fair to react negatively to a video game taunt in a World Cup match. It's also fair to respect Griezmann's hustle. He really doesn't seem to care if he's liked, so this is a good way to reinforce that among his fans.
CNET has more on Griezmann's Fortnite celebration here.