England defender Harry Maguire and ITV pundit Gary Neville have hit out at the referee following the Three Lions’ loss to France in the World Cup quarter-finals.
The winter quest for World Cup glory in Qatar is over after Saturday’s blockbuster quarter-final clash ended against reigning champions France.
England captain Harry Kane’s second-half spot-kick cancelled out Aurelien Tchouameni’s stunning early opener, equalling Wayne Rooney’s all-time scoring record of 53 in the process.
Olivier Giroud put France back ahead before Kane found the stands rather than the net with his second penalty of the night as an impressive display ended in an agonising 2-1 loss.
Despite referee Wilton Sampaio giving England two penalties, there were numerous decisions throughout the night that frustrated England players and fans.
And Maguire, who had a fantastic tournament at the heart of England’s defence, criticised the “really poor” referee for his decision-making.
“We’re hurt in there, really disappointed. Listen, we were the better team in the game for sure,” Maguire told beIN Sports.
“I think anyone watching who’s neutral will say we dominated the game for large periods.
“Big decisions went against us, a lot of decisions went against us, should I say.
“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.
“I think the referee’s decision-making throughout the game was really poor.
“We always stand here and as players we get criticised – 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.
“I think H [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.”
And former England defender Neville agreed with Maguire and went further by calling his performance a “joke”.
“The French defenders’ lack of composure through the evening was startling,” Neville said on ITV Sport.
“We knew that was the weak point of the team, but we never recognised how many poor decisions they would make in those types of areas.
“The…
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