Yahoo Movies Wilton Sampaio, the referee in charge of England vs France quarter-final
As England hope to achieve their biggest World Cup victory for 56 years, tensions are bound to be high in England's quarter-final clash against France at Al Bayt Stadium.
Telegraph Sport takes a look at Wilton Sampaio, the Brazilian referee, who will be the man in the middle on Saturday.
Who is Wilton Sampaio?
Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio has been put in charge of England’s quarter-final against France on Saturday despite the controversial penalty he awarded to Saudi Arabia earlier in the World Cup.
Sampaio, 40, used the pitchside monitor at Education City to penalise a challenge by Poland’s Krystian Bielik on Saudi forward Saleh Al-Shehri, despite minimal contact shown on the replays.
He was also criticised by pundits in Saudi Arabia for failing to give Matty Cash a second yellow card after giving him an early booking in the 16th minute of the match, with Poland going onto win 2-0 on their way to the knockout stages.
Does he have history with either team?
Sampaio has not refereed any matches involving England or France so far.
He has refereed 381 games in his career, giving out 1,856 yellow cards and 102 red cards. He has also awarded 114 penalty kicks.
What other big games has he done?
Sampaio has also been in charge of a high-profile Arab Cup game last year, also in Education City, when Qatar were awarded a penalty against Oman when Akram Afif went over dramatically in the area. Qatar’s winner came in the 97th minute via Var after Sampaio had initially carried on play.
At the last World Cup, four years ago in Russia, Sampaio was part of the refereeing team that helped introduce technology to the tournament. His other two games at this World Cup have both been victories for Holland, against Senegal and USA. He has given out 10 yellow cards so far.
Bruno Boschilia and Bruno Pires, also Brazilian, will be Sampaio’s assistants running the line at Al-Bayt Stadium, with United Arab Emirates’ Mohammed Abdulla the fourth official in between the two technical areas.
The Video Assistant Referee (Var) is the Colombian Nicolas Gallo. He will be supported by Spaniards Juan Martinez and Alejandro Hernandez, as well as Brazil's Neuza Back .
