Gary Neville slams referee Wilton Sampaio after controversial decisions in England’s World Cup loss
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‘It was a referee JOKE’: Gary Neville slams Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio after his series of controversial decisions in England’s World Cup loss to France, insisting he had ‘an absolute nightmare’
Gary Neville has criticized referee Wilton Sampaio for his performance when England were knocked out of the World Cup with a loss to France.
Sampaio made a series of controversial decisions during England’s quarter-final defeat, sparking backlash from fans online.
Speaking on ITV after the match, Neville couldn’t hide his frustration with the referee’s performance. “The referee, I thought I had an absolute nightmare, it was a referee joke.” Neville said.
Gary Neville expressed his frustration with the refereeing standard after England lost to France.
Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio made a series of controversial decisions during the World Cup quarterfinals.
I’m not saying he was to blame for England’s defeat. People will say that they are excuses, but he was just a bad referee.
After France took an early lead through Aurelien Tchouameni, Sampaio came under fire from the English players who felt the referee had failed to call a foul against Bukayo Saka that went unpunished in the build-up to Les Blues’ first match.
The 40-year-old would again be at the center of controversy later in the first half when Harry Kane was brought down on the edge of the penalty area after a clumsy challenge from Dayot Upamecano.
Sampaio denied England a first-half penalty despite Harry Kane appearing to have been brought down in the box.
Despite protests from those around him, Sampaio immediately rejected calls for a penalty, and a subsequent VAR review confirmed his unpopular decision.
England would finally have their chance to equalize from the penalty spot after half-time, with Harry Kane scoring past club teammate Hugo Lloris and becoming the joint top scorer for the Three Lions in the process.
However, Les Blues would once again take the lead, with Olivier Giroud extending his lead at the top of the French goalscoring charts with a 78th-minute header.
Sampaio would be in the spotlight again minutes later, when Theo Hernández pushed Mason Mount, intervening VAR to award England a penalty that Kane, this time, failed to convert.