Theo Hernandez's foul on Mason Mount was NOT a red card, claims former referee

England fans were shocked to see Theo Hernandez stay on the pitch after he seemingly denied Mason Mount of a goal-scoring opportunity during the Three Lions' 2-1 defeat by France on Saturday.

Gareth Southgate's side suffered a cruel exit from the World Cup in the quarter-finals after Harry Kane's late penalty miss failed to level the scoreboard.

Aurelien Tchouameni scored France's opener from distance before Kane equalised with his first spot-kick of the match shortly after the break, but Olivier Giroud's header in the 78th minute put Les Blues back in front.

Mount was bundled over by Hernandez in the penalty area as the Three Lions chased the game, but the challenge was initially overlooked by Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio, who has since been heavily criticised for his poor officiating.

Although England were handed the penalty on review by VAR, the officials decided not to brandish Hernandez a red card for his foul on Mount, which confused supporters.

Former Premier League referee Peter Walton insisted that a yellow card was the correct decision, as Mount was not yet in possession of the ball.

As explained by Walton, for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity to occur, which in turn would bring about a sending-off, the attacking player has to have gained possession of the football.

He told ITV: ‘It would be a fair question if he denied a goalscoring opportunity, unfortunately for England the player [Mount] does not have possession of the ball, therefore it wouldn’t be the denial of a goalscoring opportunity.’

Although France kept all 11 players on the pitch, England were handed a golden chance to equalise from the penalty spot, but Kane blazed his effort over the crossbar.

France held on to the 2-1 advantage and will now play Morocco in the semi-finals on Wednesday.