Chris Sutton led the criticism of Ronaldo after the Portugal skipper escaped a red card during a fiery 1-1 draw with Iran.
The second half of the match was dogged by VAR decisions with both teams awarded penalties after referee Enrique Caceres went to the touchline for a review of the incidents.
With Portugal leading 1-0 Ronaldo saw his penalty saved but before the Iranians equalised in stoppage time the Real Madrid winger was involved in further controversy.
“The referee choked!” ??????@chris_sutton73 says #POR‘s Cristiano Ronaldo should have seen red after being shown a yellow for an off the ball incident vs #IRN
World Cup Daily Podcast ??????? https://t.co/X4R5uT0Ykb#bbcworldcup #WorldCup #IRNPOR pic.twitter.com/p5le01P2UB
— BBC 5 live Sport (@5liveSport) June 25, 2018
“He swiped his face , there was no force in it” …. Intent was there, contact was there, had he taken he’s eye out it would have been ok… so red card….People and refs scared of criticising Ronaldo because he’s Ronaldo… ?? https://t.co/012NLFTDfi
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) June 25, 2018
Absolute clueless idiot so you are. The Iranian stopped in front of Ronaldo how else is he supposed to get past him
— Reaney (@reaneyrfc) June 25, 2018
Yes smash him in the face… it’s ok if your Ronaldo… he has a history of petulance https://t.co/h9cANOfGLD
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) June 25, 2018
That incident raised tempers even further with Iran awarded a very debatable penalty in stoppage time.
A late equaliser from Spain against Morocco meant that the Iranian goal saw Portugal finish Group B in second place meaning that Ronaldo will face Uruguay in the last 16 while the Spanish play Russia.
With the referee taking action during the game no retrospective discipline will be handed out against Ronaldo.
