England walked into the halftime tunnel down 1-0 to DR Congo in their World Cup round of 32 match, but the scoreline wasn’t the only thing fans were furious about. A penalty claim by Harry Kane just before the break had the entire bench screaming, and the replay room buzzing. But when the dust settled, the call stood: no penalty, and according to Wayne Rooney, that was the right one.
The moment came when Kane sprinted onto a through ball, nudged it past DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi, and then went down in a heap. Replays showed a slight shove from defender Axel Tuanzebe that knocked Kane off balance, followed by contact with Mpasi. But referee Adham Mohammad waved it off, even mimicking a dive with his hands. No yellow card, though.
VAR reviewed it. And to the disbelief of England supporters and manager Thomas Tuchel, the call was not overturned. The stadium groaned. Social media exploded.
Wayne Rooney, sitting in the BBC commentary booth, offered a take that didn’t exactly match the national mood. He said Kane stubbed his toe into the ground, tripped himself a bit, and then jumped into the keeper. Rooney didn’t think it was a dive in the theatrical sense, but he didn’t think it was a penalty either.
“I’m all for the forwards, but I just think he trips himself a little bit and then he jumps into the goalkeeper,” Rooney said during the halftime break. “Yes there is contact, but I just think by that little trip and jumping into him with two feet a little bit, I think it’s probably the right decision. He stubs his toe into the ground and then he jumps into the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper has rushed out and left himself in a position where the referee could give the penalty, but I just think it looks like he’s dived into him so I think it’s probably not a penalty.”
That last bit — the keeper leaving himself vulnerable — is the part that had England fans arguing. Mpasi did come charging out, and contact happened. But Rooney’s point was that Kane initiated the collision rather than trying to avoid it. It’s a fine line, and in high-stakes World Cup matches, those lines get drawn in sand that shifts every replay.
The bigger picture here is that England were already chasing the game. DR Congo had hit the post moments earlier through Yoane Wissa, nearly going up 2-0. So the non-call wasn’t just about one moment. It was about momentum, about the slimmest margins in a knockout game where one decision can change everything. And this one didn’t go England’s way.
Whether Kane could have stayed on his feet and finished is a question nobody will ever answer. What’s clear is that the referee, VAR, and a Manchester United legend all landed on the same side of the argument. That doesn’t make England fans feel any better, but it does say something about how the play looked in real time versus how it felt in the stands.
England had 45 minutes left to find an equalizer. The call was already in the books.
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