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England center-back Harry Maguire his feelings be known about the performance of referee Wilton Sampaio in England’s 2-1 defeat to France at Al Bayt Stadium in the quarter-final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Defeat for England
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The Three Lions were eliminated from the tournament after an entertaining clash in which France opened the scoring in the 17th minute through Aurelien Tchouameni. England responded early in the second-half through a Harry Kane penalty though Olivier Giroud got France’s second with just over ten minutes remaining.
England won a late penalty soon after to take things to extra-time after Mason Mount was fouled in the French area. Skipper Kane skied his spot-kick over the goal of Spurs teammate Hugo Lloris though, and England would ultimately exit the competition in Qatar.
However, Harry Maguire feels that his side were on the wrong end of some really harsh calls from the referee, Sampaio, primarily in the build-up to the opening goal of the game which put England down 1-0. Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka appeared to have been fouled in the French 18-yard box before Les Bleus countered and scored through Tchouameni.
The referee decided not to award a foul to Saka on-filed and his call remained after VAR conducted a review of the incident, with no penalty awarded to England. After the game Man United center-back Maguire had the referee firmly set in his sights.
Criticism from England’s Maguire
“Big decisions went against us, a lot of decisions went against us, should I say,” Maguire claimed.
“We fought, we kept going, kept pushing, we created chance after chance and they’ve been clinical in two moments and that’s why they’re the world champions, and I’ll probably say that’s why they’re favourites for the tournament,” he continued.
“I think the referee’s decision-making throughout the game was really poor,” Maguire told the media, “We always stand here and as players we get criticized – so it would be nice to see if he comes out and says whether he’s had a good game or not.”
“Because there were so many decisions in that first half where they made five, six early fouls,” he told reporters, “I think H [Harry Kane] was outside the box but it was a clear foul, he didn’t in the second half, Bukayo’s is a clear foul leading up to their first goal.”
“Big moments, big decisions, you expect to get some right but unfortunately tonight we didn’t get any,” the center-back explained.

Gary Neville Echoes Maguire Criticism
The current Manchester United captain was not the only voice from the English side of things to criticize the referee’s calls in the game. Ex-Red Devils and ITV World Cup pundit Gary Neville also called out the official’s performance.
“The referee I thought he had an absolute nightmare, he was a joke of a referee, him,” Neville stated.
“I’m not saying that was all down to England’s defeat, I think because people will say it’s just excuses, he was just a bad referee, rank bad,” he explained.
Following the defeat, England players will return to their clubs after a short period of rest. France face Morocco in the World Cup semi-final as they look to hold on to their title of World Cup Champions.
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