England vs Mexico referee made 'bizarre' World Cup call that baffled top officials

Referee Alireza Faghani will take charge of England v Mexico (Picture: Getty Images)

Alireza Faghani will take charge of the huge

World Cup

clash between

England

and Mexico on Sunday and you may remember him from an eyebrow-raising call earlier in the tournament.

The 48-year-old is a vastly experienced referee, taking charge of games at his third World Cup, having also refereed in Russia and

Qatar

.

Already this summer he has refereed

Portugal

’s draw with Colombia, but more notably, France’s 3-1 win over

Senegal

There was a decision in that match which confused many on-lookers, but as it did not impact the result, was brushed over somewhat.

England's hero (Picture:Getty)

Kylian Mbappe

seemed to be quite clearly scythed down by

Sadio Mane

in the penalty area, but Faghani did not give a spot-kick.

VAR intervened and he consulted the monitor, but still chose not to give a penalty, despite looking like he had when he pointed towards the penalty area, but was actually signalling a goal kick.

His explanation was that Mbappe had initiated the contact in the challenge, but few would agree with him on that call.

France’s players were stunned by Alireza Faghani’s decision (Picture: Getty Images)

Former

Premier League

and international assistant referee Darren Cann said on the BBC: ‘My phone has blown up with messages from several of the world’s best referees who also can’t understand why a penalty wasn’t given.’

He added: ‘I can’t support the referee’s decision to be honest. For me it is a clear penalty.

‘For me it is very, very clear and I am extremely surprised he did not point to the spot after a correct VAR review.’

Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin scoffed at the idea of Mbappe initiating the contact, saying: ‘Utter nonsense.

Sadio Mane hacked down Kylian Mbappe in New Jersey (Picture: Getty Images)

‘No chance at all. How can he have initiated the contact? The most nonsensical line I have ever heard.’

Alan Shearer added: ‘I don’t get it. You can see the lunge from Mane and his left leg catches Mbappe.

‘How can Mbappe initiate contact if he is in front of him? It’s bizarre, it really is.’

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey told

The Sun

that the blunder was so extreme that he is worried about Faghani’s suitability to referee the huge game at the Azteca this weekend.

The Iran-born Australian referee is vastly experienced (Picture: Getty Images)

‘I am concerned about Alireza Faghani’s appointment for England’s crunch last-16 tie in Mexico,’ said Halsey.

‘For a ref of his experience, I thought it was strange he did not overturn his original decision of awarding a corner and point to the spot.

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