Harry Kane hit the deck in Atlanta and hit the officials with an incredulous glare. But the penalty he wanted never came.
England, the favorites coming into this round of 32 World Cup matchup, were already trailing DR Congo 1-0 after Brian Cipenga’s early strike. With halftime approaching, Kane sprinted behind the Congolese defense and tried to chip the ball around goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi. Contact came. Kane went down. Referee Adham Makhadmeh waved it off immediately, and the message from the Jordanian official was pretty clear: he thought Kane dove.
The VAR review took maybe a minute. Video assistant referee Khamis Al Marri checked the angles and told Makhadmeh to stick with his call. No trip to the pitchside monitor. No consultation beyond the standard headset chat. Just a quick confirmation and play moved on.
Kane’s frustration boils over
Kane couldn’t hide his disbelief. He stood up, spread his arms, and stared at the officials for a solid few seconds before jogging back into position. Thomas Tuchel’s sideline reaction wasn’t much calmer. The England bench let the fourth official hear it, but nothing changed.
This wasn’t some marginal clip of a shoulder. Mpasi came rushing out with both hands extended, and Kane’s path to the ball was cut off by contact that came before he got a clean touch. In real time it looked like a 50-50 call. On replay it looked a lot more like a foul.
Former England striker Alan Shearer, working the game for the BBC, was direct about it.
“There is contact, there is no doubt,” Shearer said. “For me, that is a penalty. Kane may have made the most of it but the keeper has come out and his hands are there. If he is going to come rushing out like that with his hands as a forward you have every right to make connection and go down.”
Shearer’s not wrong about Kane making the most of it. Most top forwards do exactly that. But the keeper’s decision to charge out with arms extended is what created the whole mess. Mpasi didn’t get the ball. He got Kane. That’s usually a penalty.
What happens next for England
England went into the halftime break still down 1-0, needing to regroup and find an equalizer without the benefit of what felt like a clear spot kick. The bigger question hanging over this game is whether that missed call changes the trajectory of a knockout match where England was supposed to roll. DR Congo came to play, and they weren’t backing down.
There’s no replays in soccer. No timeout to argue further. England has to move on and find another way to break through, or this officiating decision is going to haunt more than just Kane’s stat sheet.
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