Defender Dayot Upamecano tangled Harry Kane from behind and brought the England captain down in the first half of the FIFA World Cup 2022 quarter-final on Saturday. The English skipper asked for a penalty immediately. However, VAR decided otherwise.
Fans on social media slammed the on-field referee Wilton Sampaio for the no-penalty call.
“Foul on Saka which leads to a goal. Foul on Kane which should be a free kick near the box. Terrible refereeing so far,” a Twitter user wrote.
“HOW IS THAT NOT A FOUL ON KANE ARE YOU JOKING ME???” another one wrote.
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“VAR check for a penalty on Kane…Blatant foul that should have been given straight away but looks just outside the box,” a third one said.
“Wilton Pereira Sampaio (born 28 December 1981 in Teresina de Goiás, Goiás, Brazil) is a French fan and Brazilian football referee,” a fourth one added in a sarcastic tone.
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After coming down and a VAR call going against England, Kane was still adamant. England players looked surprised.
French midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni opened his team’s account in the 17th minute. Upamecano picked Saka’s pocket and set off down the left flank. Kylian Mbappe passed the ball to the right and Dembele and Griezmann got it to Tchouameni.
Tchouameni struck a diagonal shot into the bottom left from 25 yards for the first goal of the game. France led 1-0 at half-time.
Meanwhile, social media users were surprised to see numerous empty seats at the Al Bayt Stadium for the high-octane tie.
