Who is the referee for Mexico vs England? Three Lions handed official who made World Cup’s most controversial decision so far

England step into a cauldron of noise at the Azteca on Sunday night hoping to dent one of world football’s meanest home records.

The Three Lions take on co-hosts Mexico – live on talkSPORT – with a place in the World Cup quarter-finals up for grabs, but first there will be a few barriers to overcome.

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On paper, England go into the match as favourites, however altitude, weather conditions and 88,000 passionate home fans are likely to test the character of Thomas Tuchel’s side.

Another factor could potentially be FIFA’s choice of referee for the match.

Who will referee Mexico vs England?

Australian official Alireza Faghani has been handed refereeing duties for the crunch last-16 clash in Mexico City.

The 48-year-old is refereeing at his third World Cup after being called up for the 2014 edition in Brazil and again in Russia in 2018.

In 2010, Faghani was considered one of the best referees in world football.

However, more recently, he was embroiled in a high-profile incident during the opening group stage clash between France and Senegal.

During the match in New York, Faghani was sent to the VAR monitor to assess a clumsy-looking challenge by Sadio Mane on Kylian Mbappe in the box.

Faghani, who initially waved away calls for a penalty, appeared to have changed his mind after reviewing the incident by pointing towards the penalty spot.

However, it soon became apparent that he had pointed for a goal kick, claiming Mbappe had initiated the contact.

The decision was later criticised by talkSPORT pundit Mark McGhee who said: “I didn’t like that penalty not being given.”

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Darren Cann, who was appointed the assistant referee in the 2010 World Cup final, said: “My phone has blown up with messages from several of the world’s best referees who also can’t understand why a penalty wasn’t given.”

Sports Bar hosts Jamie O’Hara and Jason Cundy claimed the decision was one of the worst they had ever come across. 

“That was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen,” O’Hara ranted.

“I mean, how is the World Cup going to allow that to happen? That referee, he was not good.”

Cundy added: “It’s disgusting. Can you imagine if he was in charge of the World Cup final, and that’s in the last minute?

“And then, Senegal go up the other end and score a winner… that’s why VAR was brought in.

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“I understand why he got it wrong in the first instance, I get why he made a mistake because players are moving at such pace, but he got it wrong.

“When you show the evidence, you’ve got camera one, camera two, camera three and camera four, how can you not then see there’s no contact with the ball?

“The defender’s leg comes in, Mbappe is trying to ride the leg and it catches him.

“Wow, I mean, that’s one of the worst decisions you’ll see… one of the worst decisions I’ve seen probably all season, actually. Disgusting.” 

The Three Lions will need all the help they can get if they are to overcome Mexico in their own stadium with 3,000 England fans expected to be in attendance.

Harry Kane has already been controversially denied one penalty at this World Cup as he was adjudged to have dived in the first-half against DR Congo.

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Football heritage

Tuchel is relishing his side’s walk into the lion’s den at a stadium that holds so many early footballing memories for him.

“I just love football and the old tournaments,” Tuchel said. “These pictures from Mexico, they are in St George’s Park, where we stay.

“Big pieces of history. This is a big moment to make peace with the stadium and turn things around.

“It will reward us. We will get it back. It’s karma. Karma will come back for us. We will turn it around.

“I remember of course the World Cup of Maradona. Two goals against England. One that was dribbling and one that would never stand these days.

“I remember something was hanging in the centre of the Azteca and it never moved. It was like a ball hanging and the sun was so steep the shadow was always there in the middle.

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“I was 13 years old and Germany played them in the final. It’s an iconic stadium. I remember the coffee table book that came from it and the pictures with all these flags and stuff.

“Super excited to have this match. It’s an iconic match to play against Mexico in Mexico. It will be against the whole country, the energy of the whole stadium in their country.”