Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville branded Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio as a ‘joke of a referee’ following England’s 2-1 defeat against France in the quarter finals of the World Cup on Saturday evening.

Harry Kane’s missed penalty dominated the headlines post-match but there was lot of spotlight on Sampaio’s officiating.

Neville said, “He had an absolute nightmare. A joke of a referee. I’m not saying it was all down to England’s defeat – people will say it is excuses – but he’s just a bad referee, rank bad.”

Opening goal controversy

The Brazilian official made several baffling calls throughout the ninety minutes including the one to award Bukayo Saka a free kick in the build up to Aurelien Tchouameni’s opening goal on the night.

Replays suggested that French defender Dayot Upamecano appeared to have fouled Saka and not having won the ball cleanly.

Minutes later Upamecano seemed to have fouled Harry Kane bundling the Tottenham Hotspur striker to the ground right as the latter entered the penalty box. VAR agreed and didn’t instruct Sampaio to review the decision.

Kane denied first half penalty

Once again replays suggested that England has been hard done by as Kane was clumsily challenged and bundled to the ground.

Neville continued, “It’s a simple decision. He kicks his leg away – I’m not sure why that isn’t a foul. He’s nibbled and he’s kicked him. It should be a free kick. Upamecano has tried to win the ball on three or four occasions where he can’t win the ball, on Saka, on Kane.”

Speaking on Sky Sports News, the TV pundit added, “I thought he was awful. That is not me blaming the referee for England being out, by the way, I just thought he was absolutely awful. I don’t actually say that anymore. I used to when I played. But it is rare now.”

“I thought he was a shocker. We were sat right there in that corner where the penalty was with Harry Kane in the first half. It felt like we were on top of it.

There were three or four fouls in that area of the pitch in the first half where you were thinking, “How has that not been given? It was weird.”

England did get a second penalty on the night after Theo Hernandez shoved Mason Mount to the ground. Sampaio however had missed the shove on Mount’s back and had earlier decided not to take any further action, waving play on.

However, VAR intervened and Sampaio overturned his initial decision after looking at replays on the pitch side monitor.

On the incident, Neville said, “Even the penalty that was given against Theo Hernandez was not given on the pitch. Don’t overthink that. It was a blatant foul, that.

The full-back thought he had lost his man and he was going to score so he made a double mistake by barging him in the back. The referee was so bad.”

Photo credit: IMAGO / Pro Shots

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