EXCLUSIVE: Keith Hackett on whether the World Cup refereeing has improved recently

The former head of PGMOL will be our refereeing expert throughout the World Cup, taking a close look at the performances of the men with the whistle, as well as other talking points.

Brazil vs Norway

"In the opening minutes of the game, Norway had the ball in the net only for it to be correctly ruled out for offside.

"Brazil, after a VAR review by referee Ismail Elfath, were correctly awarded a penalty kick, but I was rather surprised that the official didn't award it on first view, as it was a clear foul by the Norway defender. Bruno Guimaraes stepped up and saw his shot saved by the goalkeeper.

"In the final seconds of the game, the referee correctly awarded a penalty kick to Brazil from which Neymar scored.

"Well done to the man in the middle for calming down the players of both teams in those closing minutes of added time when frustrations were beginning to show."

Mexico vs England

"In the first minute of the game, England's Declan Rice was issued a yellow card for a raised boot, which was the correct decision by referee Alireza Faoghani.

"Indeed, the official kept a tight control on proceedings for the most part, though he did miss a foul throw by Nico O'Reilly and awarded a rather generous free-kick in the 42nd minute from which Mexico scored.

"In the 54th minute, Jarell Quansah was red-carded for Serious Foul Play, which I'm afraid was the correct decision.

"Not so in the 66th minute when the official was sent to the monitor and awarded a rather harsh penalty kick to Mexico after Harry Kane, when trying to clear the ball, was adjudged to have fouled his opponent.

"All in all, a terrific game that was well officiated by Faoghani."

Portugal vs Spain

"English referee, Anthony Taylor, can be very satisfied with his performance in this game, though sadly the match between the two sides did not live up to expectations.

"It was like a fearful game of chess with no one wanting to take a risk, and it meant Taylor having to maintain a low profile, knowing that a wrong decision would bring the focus on him.

"This he did, with the game settled late on by Spain's Mikel Merino."

USA vs Belgium

"The decision by the FIFA disciplinary panel to defer the suspension of USA player Folarin Balogun for 12 months, after he had received a red card in the previous match, rightly created headlines in the media around the world.

"President Trump announced hours before the game that he had spoken to the President of FIFA on this matter and questioned the validity of the red card.

"Belgium appealed the decision only to have it rejected, and FIFA certainly haven't come out of this situation well.

"Considering FIFA have a proud record of not allowing the politics of any country to influence their decision making, and, in fact, several countries have faced suspension when politicians in countries have attempted to influence outcomes in their own federations, they've scored a real own goal.

"Balogun may have been the headline story, but Belgium exacted revenge and all the host countries were now eliminated from the World Cup.

"Referee, Adham Mohammad Tumah Makhadmeh (Jordan), delivered a good performance in a game that was under intense scrutiny and that could've made headlines for all the wrong reasons."

Argentina vs Egypt

"Referee, Francois Letexier, who must be in the top three officials in the world, took charge of this game involving two of the greats of modern football, Lionel Messi and Mo Salah.

"With a good viewing angle, Letexier correctly and without any hesitation pointed to the spot after 19 minutes, but Messi missed the resulting penalty kick.

"A yellow card issued to someone in the Egyptian technical area would, I suggest, be on the advice of the fourth official.

"Though Egypt looked to have scored a wonderful goal in the second half, after VAR review, there was a clear holding offence by an Egyptian player, and it was terrific teamwork by the match officials to deliver the correct decision and to rule out the ‘goal.’

"Referee Letexier had a barnstorming match. Many young referees can learn from this official, whom I rate very highly, because he is a terrific decision maker, has great, positive body language, and he signals an award with confidence and clarity.

"A late red card issued to a member of the Egyptian technical staff was entirely correct again. Egypt wanted a penalty kick, but VAR and Letexier absolutely made the correct call."

France vs Morocco

“In the 24th minute, referee Facundo Tello had his first big call to make, one which he got absolutely correct, awarding a penalty kick to France after Kylian Mbappe was upended by Noussair Mazraoui.

“Mbappe then had to face unacceptable delays of over three minutes from the award of the penalty kick to it being taken.

“FIFA will not be happy with the delay to the second half, either, due to the late arrival of the Morocco team into the field of play. This will, I am sure, lead to a fine for Morocco.

“In the 53rd minute, there was a clear delay by Morocco when it came to taking a throw-in, too.

“The new law on throw-ins states the following: If a player is unfairly delaying the taking of a throw-in for their team, the referee will whistle and signal the start of a five-second countdown. The referee will visually count down the five seconds with a raised hand, and if the throw-in has not been taken by the end of the five seconds, it is awarded to the opposing team. The offending player is cautioned only if they excessively delay. 

“Claims for a handball by Morocco in the lead-up to Kylian Mbappe’s opening goal were correctly ignored, and a reckless challenge by Morocco’s Issa Diop on Mbappe rightly received a card.

“Well done to the Argentinian referee and his colleagues for a solid performance."

FIFA’s inconsistency

“England’s Jarell Quansah received a two-match ban from the FIFA Disciplinary panel on Thursday, and he’ll miss both the quarter-final against Norway and any semi-final should England qualify.

“There is no doubt that his challenge warranted a red card, having fulfilled the law for Serious Foul Play.

“However, this decision only highlights the great injustice that stakeholders in our game feel when a USA player, Folarin Balogun, has his red card sanction delayed for 12 months.

“We even saw President Trump having his say in the matter.

“Balogun’s challenge, which resulted in his studs making contact with his opponent's calf and then a rake down the back of the Achilles tendon, fulfilled the criteria for Serious Foul Play, and the red card was the correct decision.

“All that we expect from FIFA is a consistent application of punishment.”