Lenient officiating sparks controversy in France‑Paraguay World Cup tie

In the 2026 World Cup round‑of‑16 clash between France and Paraguay, referee Ilgiz Tantashev drew criticism for his unusually permissive approach, allowing a series of borderline fouls without issuing a single yellow card and receiving a rating of 1, the lowest possible score from a sports daily. The round‑of‑16 encounter was described as a festival of attacking play. The match referee, Mr Ilgiz Tantashev, appeared completely overwhelmed by the events unfolding on the pitch. He was surprisingly lenient with the Paraguayans, allowing numerous borderline actions to go unpunished. Matias Galarza struck Kylian Mbappé directly in front of the referee. He also pulled the French forward's shirt in a separate incident. Later, Galarza tripped Désiré Doué, adding to the list of unaddressed challenges.

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Dayot Upamecano suffered an elbow from an unnamed opponent, yet no card was shown. Galarza then delivered a deliberate kick to Kylian Mbappé's shin. Finally, Galarza elbowed Jules Koundé, completing a series of fouls that escaped sanction.

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Throughout the match, the referee issued zero yellow cards to either side. A sports daily awarded Ilgiz Tantashev a rating of 1, the lowest possible score. The article compiling these incidents was translated into English by artificial intelligence from its original French version.