Gary Neville calls referee 'a joke' and 'rank' after England defeat to France
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England bowed at the quarter finals stage of the Qatar 2022 World Cup this evening after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of France.
The game was marred with controversy, with many England fans complaining at the performance of Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio.
Harry Kane and the fellow England players appealed for a penalty in the first half after the England captain was bundled over, but after the referee waved away appeals, and a lengthy VAR check - no penalty was given.
England were awarded two penalties in the second half though, with Harry Kane dispatching one of them.
But the second one was not originally given by the referee, and one pundit has had a say on his performance.
The second penalty - which Harry Kane went on to miss - saw Mason Mount pushed in the box with no attempt to play the ball by the French defender.
The referee needed the help of VAR to eventually get to the penalty decision.
ITV pundit Gary Neville had some harsh words to say about the Brazilian in charge of proceedings in ITV's post-match reaction.
"The referee I thought he had a nightmare, joke of a referee him," Neville said.
"I'm not saying that was all down to England's defeat, because I think that people will say its excuses."
"He was just a bad referee, rank bad."
Many England fans echoed Neville's feelings by taking to social media.
A lot was discussed around the penalty incident in the first half, with some questioning the point of VAR.
One person said: "What’s is the point of having VAR? I don’t understand the decisions of the officials sometimes. When the referee misses an important foul in the game, you expect the VAR officials to call his attention to it. This is absolutely ridiculous in a game of small details. That’s a pen."
And second added: "Bin VAR, if you can’t give that as a pen what’s the f****** point in having it at all."
