Hart tells Tuchel he 'got it wrong' to attack referees after England's 3-2 win over Mexico

Thomas Tuchel’s post-match attack on the referees following England’s 3-2 win over Mexico at the Azteca has drawn a sharp rebuke from former England goalkeeper Joe Hart, who says the head coach “got it wrong” in his choice of target after a gutsy team display.

England secured the victory despite spending 45 minutes with ten men after Jarell Quansah was shown a red card by VAR while the side led 3-1. Harry Kane then gave away a penalty after catching Brian Gutierrez in the box, allowing Mexico to close the gap to 3-2 and set up a tense finish on home soil for the tournament hosts.

Tuchel was unsparing in his assessment of the officials afterwards. “It’s just not good enough,” he said. “The referees are just not good enough, fourth officials are just not good enough. Three people in the VAR from South America in a match like this — is this a clear and obvious error for the penalty? For sure not. They overturned a situation where he doesn’t even give a foul.”

Hart, who earned 75 caps for England, acknowledged the difficult circumstances but disagreed with Tuchel’s framing. “I think he has got that wrong,” Hart said. “I don’t know why he has gone so hard on that after such an impressive performance. I get it — against all the odds, the red card and the penalties — but I don’t think they were borderline decisions. I thought they were decent decisions in the end.”

Tuchel also raised concerns about a separate officiating controversy involving United States forward Folarin Balogun, whose one-match ban was suspended for a year ahead of the US fixture against Belgium. US President Donald Trump reportedly called FIFA president Gianni Infantino regarding an appeal, though Infantino has denied the intervention influenced the outcome.

“Who overturns this decision then and when? And on what grounds? How far does this go now?” Tuchel told reporters. “This is strange for me. Where does this start and where does this end?”

The result keeps England in contention at the tournament, but the manager’s combative press conference has shifted some of the post-match conversation away from the performance itself — something Hart clearly believes was an unnecessary distraction.