England boss Thomas Tuchel was highly critical of the officials after the Three Lions beat Mexico, but only after being reduced to 10 men and giving away a penalty19:00, 06 Jul 2026Updated 19:03, 06 Jul 2026Thomas Tuchel has warned England could be sent crashing out of the World Cup - by a refereeing mistake.‌Tuchel doubled down on standards of officials at the World Cup and was been left fuming by referee Alireza Faghani and the team on VAR duty.‌Harry Kane had a penalty awarded against him. Jarell Quansah was sent off and it has left the England boss openly questioning the standard of officials at the World Cup.‌It is a remarkable blast with Tuchel insisting officials are “erratic” and officials “are just not good enough” with the German warning another bad decision could dump them out.Tuchel said: “It's not good enough. They can send any team out in any moment. It's just not good enough. It's just erratic, it's just unreliable in matches.“Now we have two fourth officials who just scream at you if you put one foot out of a coaching zone. It's just not good enough.‌“We give everything and then decisions are overturned in a very questionable way. But it's not only about the big decisions, the little decisions, the consistency in the decisions.“You're just out there, it's like almost on the open sea, in front of the court, you don't know what's going to happen. They're just not on the level.‌“You play high level now, also the so-called underdogs, the so-called little nations, like we played Congo, they play on the highest level. Cape Verde plays on the highest level. You need highest level refereeing.“There are only athletes out there, the game has changed massively and it's just not good enough. It's just not good enough for the players, for the game.”Tuchel was particularly unhappy with Kane’s punishment for a challenge on Mexico ’s Brian Gutierrez which the German did not think deserved a spot kick.‌Tuchel added: “Do you really think that Harry in this moment thinks, Oh, VAR!'. He just goes to the ball and there's a contact, it's contact sport. We cannot look at stills and think: ‘Oh, contact, penalty.’ He doesn't give it.Content cannot be displayed without consent“In real life there is a way of how the game flows and how you referee and some referees are like,: ‘No, I don't allow too much contact.’ Some say: ‘No, now it's an emotional game, I let the contacts go.’Article continues below“There are contacts. You cannot look at the still and go: ‘There was a leg in between. ’Come on. You don't even give a foul and then you go to a red card. You don't give a foul and then you go to penalty.”Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.