Scotland were left questioning several key refereeing decisions following their 1-0 World Cup defeat to Morocco in Boston.
Ismael Saibari struck after just 70 seconds to give Morocco the lead, and Scotland never managed to find an equaliser on a difficult night.
The Scots had beaten Haiti 1-0 in their opening match, meaning their hopes of progressing from the group stage remain alive.
Scotland claimed for two second-half penalties as both John McGinn and Scott McTominay went to ground inside the box.
Former referee Christina Unkel, speaking on ITV Sport, believed one of those appeals should have been successful, focusing on the McTominay incident.
“The referee is known for tolerating a higher level of physical contact but you don’t need a lot to give a penalty,” Unkel said.
“It’s a simple foul, there’s contact at the knee position and there’s another angle that suggests there might be a step on the left boot.”
Unkel’s ITV colleagues Roy Keane and Ange Postecoglou disagreed with her assessment of the incident, highlighting the divided opinion around the decisions.
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke was measured in his response but made clear he had concerns about the performance of Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev throughout the match.
“There were one or two decisions that I’m not too sure about,” Clarke said, adding that he considered the challenge on McGinn to be the stronger penalty claim.
Clarke also felt Morocco defender Issa Diop was fortunate to receive only a yellow card after he brought down Che Adams, who appeared to be through on goal.
“It’s the same with the yellow card for the defender when Che Adams is going clean through on goals,” Clarke said. “On another day that could be a red.”
McGinn himself was in no doubt he had been fouled by Neil El Aynaoui, but urged Scotland to focus on their own performance rather than dwell on officiating.
“Out the corner of my eye, I could see the Morocco defender charging in,” McGinn said. “I got first contact to the ball and he took me out. It’s a penalty kick for me.”
“Morocco have got away with one there,” the Aston Villa midfielder added. “But we need to be better and create chances from open play, not rely on referee’s decisions.”
Two former Scotland forwards were equally frustrated by the decision not to send off Diop, with Kilmarnock manager Neil McCann insisting the challenge warranted a red card.
“Che Adams is goal-side and he’s clearly pulled back,” McCann said. “I think with the flight of the ball, he’s going to get onto it and there’s no-one on the cover.”
James McFadden was equally unequivocal, stating that if the referee deemed the challenge a foul, a dismissal was the only logical outcome.
“He’s running onto it, straight towards goal,” McFadden said. “It’s 100% an obvious goalscoring opportunity. If the referee deems it a foul, he has to send him off.”
Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin offered a notably different perspective, defending Tantashev’s approach despite describing his display as “bizarre.”
“You put that referee in a game 10 years ago and he’s perfectly normal,” Nevin said. “He made a couple of mistakes but, in reality, I’d rather have him than most of the referees we get these days.”
