FIFA Refs Already Under Fire For Calls In France vs. Spain

It didn't take long for fans to complain about the officiating in this Tuesday's World Cup semifinal between France and Spain.

During the 9th minute of this match, France midfielder Adrien Rabiot received a yellow card for a foul on Spain midfielder Dani Olmo. A few minutes later, Michael Olise committed an even worse foul but he wasn't booked for it. As you'd imagine, Spain's fans weren't thrilled with that decision from referee Iván Barton.

There was even more controversy in the 20th minute when Spain was rewarded a penalty after Lamine Yamal drew a foul from Lucas Digne. As Digne was attempting to clear the ball from the box, he struck Yamal right on his backside.

Not only were fans frustrated with the penalty that Spain was awarded in the first half, they thought Olise should've been sent off early.

"This ref is so clueless! Olise should be on the bench right now," one fan declared.

"This referee officiating this France vs Spain game I have never seen him not have a poor game or a scandal every time," a second fan said. "I have watched him ref..I don't know why FIFA keeps choosing him for some big games."

"Bro this ref is literally trying to rig France in front of the whole world how was that a penalty," a fan commented.

"This is so horrible from Olise and he's so lucky to get away with it, but i think the ref decided not to give him because of the yellow card for Rabiot earlier on," another fan wrote.

What's at stake for these two countries?

France is hoping to make the World Cup final for a third consecutive tournament. After winning the World Cup in 2018, they suffered a heartbreaking loss to Argentina in the 2022 final.

Spain, on the other hand, is hoping to reach the World Cup final for the first time since 2010.

The winner of this match will face either Argentina or England in the final on Sunday.

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This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 12:43 PM.