It was an extraordinary match that had it all: five goals, two penalties, a red card and a lot of stitches from start to finish. England were reduced to numbers in the second half when Jarrell Quansah was sent off for a stud-up challenge on Mexican winger Jesus Gallardo. Referee Alireza Faghani initially overlooked this, but after VAR intervened, he showed him a red card.
In another moment of VAR controversy, Mexico were awarded a penalty after Harry Kane was deemed to have kicked Brian Gutierrez’s leg while going for the ball.
Tuchel was asked about these decisions in a post-match interview with BBC Sport and made no attempt to hide his displeasure with a scathing review of the referee’s performance.
He said: “There’s just not enough, there’s not enough refereeing, there’s not enough fourth umpires.”
“VAR had three people from South America, right? If this is what I saw and this is correct…
“VAR overturned it, but was it a clear mistake on the penalty? Of course not. They didn’t even give a foul.
“They couldn’t turn the yellow into a red. It wasn’t good enough. The referee and the fourth official weren’t good enough.”
Tuchel was quite pleased with the performance of his England players, who showed incredible heart and resilience to get through the game under immense pressure.
“If you have heart and belief in your team, this team did it out of sheer will,” he said. “There are no words. An iconic match, an iconic stadium.
“We overcame a lot of adversity today. I give you all the credit. I’m very proud. It didn’t feel hostile. It felt more upbeat and emotional.”
“They had chances and they scored, we knew that too, but they didn’t give in at a level that was absolutely admirable.”
