Australia came out of their victory over Tunisia with a good chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.
The Socceroos will be pleased with the way they bounced back from a 4-1 defeat to France earlier in the week – and especially with the nature of Mitchell Duke's goal, one of the best of the tournament so far.
But a new angle of the build-up to the goal – not shown to those watching the World Cup game live – may leave Tunisia fans feeling hard done by.
It shows that while Australia launched their attack, the path of German referee Daniel Siebert crossed with that of Tunisian midfielder Ellyes Skhiri as he chased down Australia Riley McGree.
Siebert's trailing foot clearly tripped Skhiri, leaving McGree with the space to play a ball out wide – a 'pre-assist' that led directly to the goal.
The BBC posted the video following the game:
REF! 😱#BBCWorldCup #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/wkHFmQ2d1zNovember 26, 2022
Some fans felt that play should have been stopped, with one tweeting: "Surely play should stop and be restarted with a drop ball, same as if the ball hits the ref?"
However, there are no specific rules that say this should happen – and it is unclear that Skhiri would have caught McGree and affected the game.
Australia now sit on three points, ahead of their final group stage World Cup fixture against Denmark on Wednesday. Tunisia have just one point, and need to beat current holders France on Wednesday to have any chance of making it through to the knockout stages.
