Following England’s defeat to France in the FIFA World Cup on Saturday, December 10, midfielder Jude Bellingham slammed referee Wilton Sampaio, a Brazilian referee. The Borussia midfielder claimed that officials, like players, can have bad days, and Sampaio had a bad day.
“Not great if I’m being honest, not great. Anyone can have a bad game, players and referees. I think he wasn’t where he should have been today in terms of the level for a game like this,”
he said.
The Englishman claims that if the Three Lions had been given free kicks around the box, they could have punished France from set-piece situations.
“But there are more factors as to why we lost, this definitely isn’t me putting it all on him, we were the ones who played the game, but yeah I don’t think he was at the level tonight.”
“I think there were a few [fouls] around the box in the first half, we are deadly at set pieces, and I think any one of those can make the difference,”
Bellingham continued.
During the game, Sampaio made several big and contentious calls that cost Gareth Southgate’s side. France’s first goal came just before Dayot Upamecano’s possible foul on Bukayo Saka, but Sampaio refused to blow the whistle. Harry Kane was later tripped by the Bayern Munich defender again, which the referee ignored.
The Video Assistant Referee did not intervene in the decision because he assumed the contact was outside the box. England were eventually awarded two penalties, the second of which came only after a VAR intervention. Kane converted his first penalty spot kick in style, beating Hugo Lloris, but skied the second over the post.
Defending champions France will face Morocco in the semifinals on Wednesday, with the goal of reaching their second consecutive FIFA World Cup final.
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