Jude Bellingham refused to talk about the referee after England’s thrilling win over Mexico, saying that he does not want to get himself banned for the next game.
The Three Lions are into the World Cup quarter-finals after a dramatic 3-2 victory at the Azteca, which saw a penalty awarded to both sides and Jarell Quansah shown a straight red card.
Bellingham scored twice in two minutes to put England 2-0 ahead in the first half, before Julian Quinones pulled one back before the break.
Quansah was then dismissed on 54 minutes for a dangerous challenge on Jesus Gallardo, which the referee did not initially give as a foul but VAR stepped in and the Bayer Leverkusen defender was shown red.
England’s nerves were settled as Harry Kane scored from the penalty spot on the hour-mark, after Anthony Gordon was felled by Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel.
There was more drama shortly after, though, as Kane was adjudged to have fouled Brian Gutierrez in his own box while trying to make a clearance, with VAR stepping in again and allowing Raul Jimenez to score from the spot.
Thomas Tuchel’s side dug in admirably late on as they defended against relentless attack and hung on to book their quarter-final spot against Norway on Saturday.
Bellingham intends to be in the starting XI in Miami and therefore stopped himself from saying too much about referee Alireza Faghani.
Speaking in Spanish after the match, the Real Madrid superstar said: ‘About the referee, I want to play the next game, which is why I’m not saying anything.’
He did have praise for England’s opponents, though, saying: ‘Mexico is a very strong team and they play with a lot of heart.
‘The last two or three days here were incredible. The Azteca is an historic stadium and it was a pleasure playing them.’
England boss Thomas Tuchel was not so restrained about his opinion on the officials, blasting not just the referee at the Azteca.
‘They’re just not good enough. The referees are just not good enough,’ he told the BBC.
‘The fourth officials are just not good enough. That’s the bottom line. Did I see that right that three of the VAR officials are from South America?
‘In a match like this? I think so, that’s what I saw. If that is correct…
‘VAR overturns the decision for the [Mexico] penalty. Is it a clear and obvious error? For sure not. But VAR get involved.
‘Earlier he doesn’t even give a foul and they overturn it and give us a red card. The referees are not good enough.’
Kane also felt everything was going against England, saying of the penalty he conceded: ‘I tried to get to the ball first, but it was one of those days. The referee called everything against us, but in the end it didn’t matter.’
England now take on Norway on Saturday in Miami for a place in the semi-finals.
The other quarter-final in that half of the draw is not yet set, with Argentina playing Egypt and Switzerland taking on Colombia in the last 16 on Tuesday.