Alan Shearer believed that Mexico should not have been awarded a penalty, although the referee and two of his fellow officials disagreed with him.

The decision sparked debate among fans and pundits over whether Mexico truly deserved the chance to reduce England’s lead to 3-2 during their World Cup Round of 16 encounter.

In what was arguably one of the most entertaining matches of the tournament so far, Raul Jimenez successfully converted from the spot to narrow the deficit against ten-man England.

The BBC’s panel of experts were split over the referee’s call, which came after he reviewed the incident on the pitchside VAR monitor.

England defender Jarell Quansah had earlier been shown a straight red card following a VAR review that determined his high sliding tackle on Jesus Gallardo constituted serious foul play, leaving England with ten men while leading 2-1.

Despite being a man down, England extended their advantage shortly thereafter when Harry Kane scored from the penalty spot, following a foul by Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel on Anthony Gordon inside the area.

Shearer, however, maintained that the penalty awarded to Mexico later in the match was unjustified. Reflecting on the replay, he said, “Is that really a clear and obvious error by the referee? He officiated one of the early games – France versus Senegal – and didn’t give that penalty for Kylian Mbappe.”

The Australian referee nonetheless upheld his own decision to award the penalty, prompting Shearer to reiterate his belief that the call was overly harsh.

BBC’s refereeing expert Darren Cann, on the other hand, supported the referee. “Yes, it is a penalty,” he said. “Harry Kane, unfortunately, does kick the Mexican player’s foot. It’s quite similar to the Luka Modric incident in England’s first group match, where Kane wasn’t aware of the opponent closing in but still made contact. It’s a foul inside the box, so it’s a penalty.”

Cann further added, “This referee is the only one in this World Cup who has gone to the monitor and stuck with his original decision – that was in the France versus Senegal match involving the Mbappe penalty claim. On this occasion, too, it’s the right decision – penalty kick.”

Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart sided with Cann’s view, saying, “For all three decisions, I think the referee got them right. I know Alan feels strongly that the penalty shouldn’t have been given, and of course everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but in my view, every call looked correct, including the penalty.”

Hart added, “As soon as I saw the replay, my heart was in my mouth. I thought Quansah deserved to be sent off, Kane didn’t get any touch on the ball, and Gordon definitely reached it first.”