KANSAS CITY, Missouri, June 14 (Reuters) - England's opening World Cup match against Croatia on Wednesday will be refereed by Frenchman Clement Turpin, who was once labelled "Grade E" by Thomas Tuchel who is now England coach.
Turpin sent then-Bayern Munich manager Tuchel to the stands for protesting during his team's 1-1 draw with Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-final, second leg in 2023 after showing the German two yellow cards.
Turpin issued five first-half bookings and initially showed Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano a straight red card, a decision overturned following a VAR review. City beat Bayern 4-1 on aggregate.
"Two things couldn't keep up with the level, the pitch wasn't in good condition and also the referee, unfortunately, was Grade E," Tuchel said after the match.
"I'd give him a one out of 10. He was absolutely terrible. It's unbelievable at this level. He was whistling for everything and anything. Everything was against us.
"In the end, we were never in a position to turn things around with three men against us. That's a fact."
England's Jude Bellingham has also clashed with the French referee, who pushed the Real Madrid player away from the penalty area when he tried to distract Bayern's Harry Kane as he stepped up to take a penalty in a Champions League semi-final in 2024.
"I'm sure (Bellingham) was saying something to try and put me off but, thankfully, it was OK," Bellingham's England teammate Kane told reporters after the game. "I don't know what he was saying. I saw him there mumbling something."
England midfielder Jordan Henderson said he was not concerned about the referee assignment.
"We're at a World Cup, I would like to think that the best referees in the world are here, and for us, it's not something that we can control with a referee," he said.
"We've just got to focus on ourselves and our performance, and I'm sure the referees will be top, top level, and that's something not really that we'll focus on."
Turpin took charge of the 2021 Europa League final, the 2022 Champions League final and England's 0-0 draw with Slovenia at the 2024 European Championship.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, Editing by Ken Ferris and Ed Osmond)
