{"id":1195,"date":"2026-07-01T18:16:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/?p=1195"},"modified":"2026-07-01T18:16:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:16:43","slug":"penalty-drama-var-audits-spark-debate-in-englands-tense-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/penalty-drama-var-audits-spark-debate-in-englands-tense-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"Penalty Drama: VAR Audits Spark Debate in England\u2019s Tense Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u200bA storm of controversy has erupted following England\u2019s dramatic 2-1 victory over DR Congo in the FIFA World Cup Round of 32. Just before half-time, with the Three Lions trailing 1-0, captain Harry Kane surged into the box and went down under a challenge from Congolese goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi.<br>\u200bRather than pointing to the spot, Jordanian referee Adham Makhadmeh booked the striker for simulation. Despite visible contact on replays, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) backed the on-field call without summoning Makhadmeh to the pitchside monitor.<br>\u200bThe decision heavily divided the footballing community. On BBC One, Alan Shearer fiercely defended the captain: &#8220;There is contact, there is no doubt. For me, that is a penalty.&#8221; Conversely, Wayne Rooney agreed with the official, suggesting Kane \u201clooked like he threw himself toward the goalkeeper\u2026 and looked for contact.\u201d<br>\u200bThe controversy ultimately fueled England\u2019s second-half resurgence. Fueled by the setback, Kane took matters into his own hands, netting a brilliant brace in the 75th and 86th minutes to secure a hard-fought ticket to the Round of 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u200bA storm of controversy has erupted following England\u2019s dramatic 2-1 victory over DR Congo in the FIFA World&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1196,"href":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195\/revisions\/1196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agajahub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}