Queiroz Mocks VAR After England-Ghana World Cup Draw
SkimNews Take
The VAR complaint overshadows a more telling problem: England fired 19 shots without scoring, suggesting the late penalty drama deflects attention from an attack that couldn't break down a side it was favored to beat.
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- England and Ghana drew 0-0 in their Group L World Cup match in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with England holding 79% possession — the highest by any team that failed to score at a World Cup in the past 60 years.
- Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz accused VAR of missing a clear penalty and red card for Ezri Konsa's challenge on substitute Prince Adu, telling a FIFA official at the postmatch news conference: 'I'm not sure VAR is still working in the World Cup.'
- England outshot Ghana 19-1 yet failed to convert multiple late chances, while Ghana was also aggrieved that goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was awarded a free kick rather than penalized in an earlier collision with Adu.
- Queiroz clashed with England's Jude Bellingham at halftime over a crunching tackle on Jerome Opoku, with the Real Madrid midfielder admitting he 'caught the lad' while Queiroz said Bellingham used a 'bad word' that could have warranted a second yellow card.
- U.S. official Armando Villarreal served as VAR and Honduras' Said Martinez refereed the match — a detail Queiroz raised implicitly by questioning whether VAR was functioning at all in the tournament.
- Both teams now face Panama on Saturday — England in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Ghana simultaneously in Philadelphia — with the expanded 48-team format sending the top eight third-place teams through to the knockout round.
Why it matters: England face Panama on Saturday with Group L qualification still unsettled, while Carlos Queiroz — managing at his fifth World Cup — used sarcasm to escalate pressure on FIFA's VAR system, operated by U.S. official Armando Villarreal in the match, raising scrutiny heading into the knockout stage.
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