Did geopolitics make France not kick a single ball at the goal for 70 minutes?
I'm not defending France or anything. I dislike both teams, my team got eliminated a while ago.
But take a look at Argentina - Croatia. Argentina was way superior after the first 20 min or so, but Croatia was still holding. After the penalty Croatia was no longer playing football. When Argentina scored the second goal the defense was scared of even approaching the ball. A penalty in a tournament like this can kill the morale easily.