Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev gets worst World Cup rating ever from L'Equipe

Ilgiz Tantashev, an official from Uzbekistan, made unwanted history after the France vs. Paraguay World Cup group-stage match. The French side edged it 1-0, but the real talking point was the officiating — and not in a good way. France’s L’Equipe, which rates every referee at the tournament, handed Tantashev a 1 out of 10. That is the lowest score any match official has ever received in World Cup history. The 42-year-old adopted an unusual approach that left players and fans baffled. The most glaring issue was the imbalance in discipline. Paraguay committed 13 fouls but walked away without a single yellow card. France, who fouled ten times, ended up with three bookings. Decisions that seemed to go against the European side at critical moments fueled frustration. L’Equipe highlighted three specific incidents that should have resulted in warnings or worse: an elbow on Kylian Mbappé in the 39th minute, a heavy challenge on Désiré Doué in the 64th, and a deliberate kick to Mbappé’s shin in the 78th. All went unpunished. France coach Didier Deschamps kept his post-match comments measured, while Paraguay boss Gustavo Alfaro had earlier shared his thoughts on his team's display. But the numbers from L’Equipe tell the harshest story — no referee in World Cup history has been rated this low before.