Keith Hackett impressed by referee's actions in Germany disallowed goal controversy vs Ivory Coast

Referee Juan Gabriel Benitez Mareco deserves praising after ruling out an early goal between Germany and Ivory Coast at the Toronto Stadium.

That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that the official was correct to disallow Aleksandar Pavlovic's header.

In the 23rd minute, Bayern Munich's midfielder thought he had given Germany the lead, only for a foul on the goalkeeper to be awarded on Saturday, 20 June.

It appeared as though Yahia Fofana had been beaten to the header, but replays quickly showed that Pavlovic had made clear contact with the keeper instead.

Without VAR intervention, the referee overturned the decision of a goal, which was then confirmed by VAR behind the scenes.

While Ivory Coast soon went on to take the lead via a Franck Kessie strike, a Deniz Undav double helped the German's avoid embarrassment in yet another World Cup.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former referee praised the officials actions, with extra "credit" being awarded for a lack of dissent as well.

"I think that what this very experienced referee saw is what I'm seeing, and that is the forward not making an attempt to head the ball," he said.

"So I think that the reality was he jumped at the goalkeeper with the intention of hiding, if you like, but having a clear objective.

"You always err on the side of safety, particularly now you've got VAR, because what you don't want is a questionable goal being allowed.

"You don't want the game to finish, and you see there's been an error. So I think he's erred on the side of safety. He's in a good position. He's very positive with his body language.

"It's frankly a good piece of refereeing. You didn't see that much dissent on the decision. But then we haven't seen a lot of dissent at this tournament.

"That credit to the work that's going on. So for me, I think the referee's got it right."

Liverpool scouts would not have only been watching Florian Wirtz, with several Premier League stars also featuring.

However, heading into the game, all eyes were firmly on RB Leipzig's Yan Diomande, who has been the subject of a big-money bid from the Reds.

It was not the best of performances from the winger, but he did show his raw talent in bursts, especially when creating Ivory Coast's goal.

Ivory Coast are expected to advance in the 2026 World Cup, so there will be plenty of chances for Diomande to raise his price tag this summer.