Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio, who angered England with his decisions to defeat France, is being held back at the World Cup – and could referee the final – as England referee Michael Oliver is sent home

Wilton Sampaio, the controversial Brazilian referee who was heavily criticized for his performance in England’s defeat to France at the World Cup, was kept at the tournament and even got to referee the final in Qatar.

Remarkably, the FIFA decision means Sampaio can even referee Sunday’s final, despite a series of controversial decisions in England’s 2-1 defeat by France on Saturday night.

Premier League referee Anthony Taylor also remains in contention for the World Cup finals after surviving FIFA’s latest round of cuts.

Despite awarding England two penalties – one on VAR recommendation – Sampaio was criticized for his inconsistency in the quarter-finals.

England felt Bukayo Saka was fouled by Dayot Upamecano before France’s opener Aurelien Tchouameni.

Gareth Southgate’s side were also surprised that a challenge by Upamecano on Harry Kane did not result in a penalty or even a free-kick when he went outside the box.

England centre-back Harry Maguire described Sampaio as “very bad” after the game, adding: “He never gave us anything.”

He failed to award Harry Kane a first-half penalty after a challenge from France’s Dayot Upamecano

Bukayo Saka was fouled before the opening of the French quarter-finals

But, remarkably, Sampaio could now referee the final after his native Brazil were knocked out of the World Cup by Croatia on Friday night.

There were 36 referees at the start of the tournament, including Premier League officials Taylor and Michael Oliver.

That number has now been reduced to 12 as the World Cup enters its final week, with Oliver one of the unlucky ones sent home from Qatar.

FIFA sources confirmed their final 12 to Sportsmail on Monday morning and the list also includes Taylor, the 44-year-old from Wythenshawe, Manchester.

Harry Maguire (left) described Sampaio’s refereeing performance on Saturday as “very poor”.

Oliver, arguably the best referee in the Premier League, will go home disappointed. The 37-year-old from Ashington, Northumberland, has overseen three World Cup games – Costa Rica 1-0 Japan, Mexico 2-1 Saudi Arabia and Croatia 1-1 Brazil – and has been praised for his performance.

Taylor oversaw two matches, both in the group stage: Ghana’s 3-2 win over South Korea and Croatia’s 0-0 draw with Belgium. His assistants Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn also remain in Qatar.

Highly respected Dutch official Danny Makkelie is one of the 12 referees.

It comes after Sportsmail previously revealed that FIFA privately told the Dutchman he was fine to fine Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny for his hand on Argentina’s Lionel Messi’s face, despite fans calling it one of the worst decisions in the mention history of the match.

The three female referees who broke new ground – France’s Stephanie Frappart, Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga and Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita – did not make FIFA’s final 12 list.

Sampaio was able to referee the final after his native Brazil was eliminated from the tournament

Anthony Taylor (left) stayed in Qatar but fellow Premier League referee Michael Oliver did not

Criticism of Sampaio continued after England’s disappointing exit from the World Cup.

In his verdict on Sampaio’s performance, Jude Bellingham said: “Not great, to be honest, not great. Anyone can have a bad game – players and referees – but I don’t think it should have been in terms of the level for such a game.”

ITV pundit Gary Neville also described Sampaio’s performance as “shocking” in his post-match commentary.

He said: “I think the referee could have been better, I thought he was terrible. I don’t blame the referee for England dropping out, I just thought he was awful.

“In the first half we were in the corner where the penalty was with Kane, in the first half there were three or four fouls in that part of the ball and I was like, how can it not be a foul? It was strange.’

Even gave the punishment [Theo] Hernandez was not allowed on the field, Neville continued. “And don’t think too long about it, it was a blatant violation.

“It’s a double mistake: the full-back lost his man and then pushed him in the back. You see defenders taking players out – it wasn’t that, it was a kick in a player’s back. The referee was so bad. The first goal was difficult.’

It was not the first game Sampaio has come under scrutiny in Qatar after missing a controversial penalty in Saudi Arabia’s 2-0 defeat to Poland.

He used the pitch monitor to punish a tackle by Poland’s Krystian Bielik on Saudi striker Saleh Al-Shehri, despite the minimal contact seen in the replays.

During the last World Cup tournament in Russia, he was part of the refereeing team that introduced VAR to the tournament.

His other two matches at the 2022 tournament were both wins for the Netherlands – against Senegal and the United States.