England centre-back Harry Maguire has slammed referee Wilton Sampaio for a "really poor" performance in his side's World Cup 2022 quarter-final defeat to France.
The Three Lions suffered last-eight heartbreak at the Al Bayt Stadium, as Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud struck either side of Harry Kane's leveller from the spot.
However, referee Sampaio was blasted for a number of controversial decisions on the night, as neither he nor the linesman blew for an apparent foul on Bukayo Saka in the build-up to Tchouameni's opener.
Sampaio did not hesitate to point to the spot when Tchouameni tripped Saka in the area, allowing Kane to crash home the equalising goal from the spot and go level with Wayne Rooney's record 53 goals for England.
Following Giroud's 78th-minute header, England would have another chance to restore parity from the spot when Mason Mount was clattered by Theo Hernandez, but Sampaio only awarded the penalty after an on-field review.
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Hernandez controversially escaped a red card before Kane fluffed his lines from 12 yards, and England could not claw their way back into the contest against the world champions, ultimately falling to a 2-1 defeat.
Maguire was one of four players booked by Sampaio alongside Hernandez, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele, and the Manchester United centre-back was highly critical of the Brazilian's night.
When asked about Sampaio's performance by BBC Sport, Maguire responded: "Really poor, very poor. From minute one, five, six fouls in the first 15 minutes, not one yellow card. For me it's a foul on Bukayo leading up to the first goal.
"I can't really explain how bad his performance really was, I don't want to go into too much, but his decisions were really poor throughout the game. Not just the big decisions, even though the big decisions were wrong he didn't give us anything."
England manager Gareth Southgate was also asked for his views on Sampaio's performance but did not want to waste his time discussing a "pointless" topic after his side's elimination.
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"It's pointless me going into that. I'd rather talk about our players. Congratulations to France, they know they've been in a hell of a game and we've given a top team a game and I don't think we could've done anymore," Southgate told ITV.
As well as producing a scathing assessment of Sampaio's performance, Maguire also admitted that France's streak of ruthlessness was one that England could not match, adding: "It's difficult to take.
"We've dominated the game, the ball and the chances, we've had all the pressure, but this is tournament football. You can find yourself on the end of a result because of being clinical in two moments, and we haven't.
"This is why there are so many upsets and why everyone loves tournament football, and we know that we've played well tonight but ultimately not well enough."
France will now tackle African history-makers Morocco for the chance to take on either Argentina or Croatia in the World Cup final.
Ben Knapton
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