The 2026 World Cup was never going to pass by without some refereeing controversy. Perhaps the most remarkable bit of officiating, however, came from Uzbekistan's Ilgiz Tantashev during the 1-0 France win over Paraguay.
It was a tight game in terms of chances as the South Americans worked extremely hard to keep their European opposition at bay. This worked for the most part, but a VAR review led to a penalty, which was dispatched by Kylian Mbappe in the 70th minute.
This was enough to settle the game, but the French players will feel as though they were not helped by the officiating on the day, with the Paraguayan stars allowed to play an extremely physical game without fair punishment.
Ilgiz Tantashev Sparks World Cup Drama With Refereeing Display
A number of incidents have gone viral from the match, with referee Tantashev – officiating his first World Cup and known for his willingness to let games flow - very much the centre of attention. Remarkably, Paraguay completed the encounter without picking up a single yellow card, while France were handed three bookings.
One moment summed up the issues, with Andres Cubas crunching into Adrien Rabiot without getting a card:
There were also multiple moments where Paraguay players lashed out at France stars such as Mbappe and Jules Kounde, with one instance showing a clear kick on the shins of the star striker. Despite this, no yellow cards were dished out.
Speaking on BBC Sport, Joe Hart called out the Paraguay players, saying:
“This Paraguay team was an absolute disgrace I would drag my teammates off if they played like that, I would never, ever want to win a game playing like that and the referee was an absolute disgrace.”
He also praised Mbappe for keeping his composure during the game. Micah Richards added that it was 'embarrassing to see.'
The football legend's behaviour has upset some fans.
Paraguay Stars Bend the Rules But Still Lose to France
Referee Tantashev even had to rely on VAR before awarding a penalty after a clear foul on Desire Doue. What's more, he failed to stop the Paraguay stars from scuffing the spot kick before Mbappe stepped up to score.
The game threatened to boil over on multiple occasions, with players coming together at full-time as well. Fans online were completely shocked by the refereeing, with one noting:
"This is genuinely the worst referee ever."
Another added: "Worst referee performance of the tournament this."While, after one bad foul, a third said:
"Worst refereeing performance of the tournament. I can’t believe there hasn’t been a card awarded for that. It’s not even that he’s lost control over the game it’s just the fact he isn’t giving any of the basic decisions. Extremely poor officiating all over."
In the end, it was a miracle there were no red cards, with a number of Paraguay stars more than lucky to avoid such punishment – while the French players did well to not lose their tempers.
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