‘It wasn’t a penalty’

Belgium completed a remarkable comeback to beat Senegal 3-2 after extra time in their World Cup Round of 32 clash, but the decisive penalty has sparked strong criticism.

In the 117th minute, Youri Tielemans was challenged in the Senegal box by Lamine Camara.

After a seven-minute VAR check, the referee gave Belgium the penalty. Tielemans stepped up and converted from the spot, which proved to be the decisive goal of the contest.

However, former England international and Manchester United right back Garry Neville questioned whether challenge on Tielemans met the standard for a penalty.

"I don't think it's a penalty on the bar that's been set in this tournament," Neville said on ITV.

"I genuinely don't believe that's a penalty. If Tielemans gets a touch on the ball and then he gets kicked, fair enough."

Neville also criticised the length of the VAR process, saying the extended review undermined confidence in the decision.

"The more that the VAR looked at it, and it's the longest we've seen VAR look at an incident in this World Cup, the more he was re-refereeing the game," he said.

"It took so long for him to send the referee over. The referee had a couple of minutes looking at it, so he wasn't that sure."

"In the end they've stumbled upon a decision that is so 50-50."

Belgium had looked set for elimination after Habib Diarra gave Senegal the lead in the 25th minute before Ismaila Sarr doubled the advantage early in the second half.

Romelu Lukaku began the comeback in the 86th minute with Belgium's first shot on target. Tielemans then headed in Leandro Trossard's cross less than three minutes later to force extra time.

For Ireland captain and Manchester United star Roy Keane also disagreed with the decision, describing the penalty as "very, very harsh" and questioning the referee's hesitation during the review.

"It's very, very harsh," Keane said.

"The referee took so long at the screen, when they usually seem to be a bit quicker with their decisions. You want conviction in the referee's decision, and he was certainly hesitating a long time."

With the win, Belgium progressed to the last 16 and will face hosts’ United States.