Overview
- On Sunday senior referee analysts Lutz Wagner and Patrick Ittrich publicly condemned specific performances, naming Uzbek referee Ilgiz/Ilgis Tantashev and video assistant Tatiana Guzman as central examples of poor officiating.
- Wagner said Tantashev’s France–Paraguay performance was the weakest of the tournament, citing multiple missed yellow and potential red-card incidents and an unnecessary referral of Kylian Mbappé’s clear penalty to VAR.
- Ittrich criticized Guzman’s VAR work in Brazil–Norway for not showing an earlier foul in the build-up by Brazil’s Ryan on Antonio Nusa, a lapse he says made the later penalty review flawed.
- Guzman was also linked to a contentious intervention that led to Jonathan Tah’s disallowed goal in Germany’s exit to Paraguay, a decision that drew expert ire even though FIFA has defended at least one VAR intervention.
- Experts warn these recurring errors matter now because knockout matches leave little room for mistakes, and they are calling for clearer, more consistent on-field refereeing and stricter VAR protocol enforcement that includes reviewing the play build-up and ball recovery.