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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Kieran King

FIFA chief Gianni Infantino booed on big screen during England World Cup win over Wales

Gianni Infantino has been heavily criticised at the World Cup - and the FIFA president faced a chorus of boos during England's win over Wales on Tuesday night.

He was pictured on the big screen at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium and thousands of supporters appeared to jeer the 52-year-old, who has been slammed for some of his actions at the tournament. Infantino has been a regular in the stands at the World Cup, but this was the first time he has been audibly booed by a number of fans in the ground.

Having been under scrutiny since the start of the competition after sending a letter to all nations competing at the World Cup to "stick to football", supporters have hit back. Infantino's divisive image was clear for all to see during England's 3-0 thrashing of Wales on Tuesday evening.

The FIFA president appeared on the big screen towards the end of the second half, originally smiling and laughing with someone sat next to him. But his smile soon disappeared as fans looked up to the screen and began jeering Infantino in their thousands.

Infantino immediately cut an uncomfortable figure as he sat back in his chair with a dejected look on his face. It was the only time England and Wales came together in their final group game, as the Three Lions ran out comfortable winners thanks to a Marcus Rashford brace and Phil Foden's strike.

The result put England top of Group B on seven points, with United States also qualifying for the knockout stages after they beat Iran 1-0 courtesy of Christian Pulisic's first-half finish. It means Wales have finished bottom of the group, with Iran in third. USA are set to take on Netherlands in the last 16 on Saturday, although talisman Pulisic is a doubt for the game through injury.

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Marcus Rashford opened the scoring for England (Hector Vivas - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, England will face Senegal on Sunday and Gareth Southgate was delighted with his side's performance against Wales. He praised Rashford and Foden for the impact they had after coming into the side, with Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling dropping out.

"We had complete control of the game in the first half but didn’t create enough clear chances," Southgate said. "We were a little bit out of balance and we thought we could reverse Marcus and Phil’s sides. Players make those decisions work.

"Watching lots of games the big players have stepped up. And our forwards didn’t do that in the first half but in the second half, they really did. You need goals from all areas. It is a problem for the opposition if the threat is coming from other areas of the pitch. It is competition for places and people have to deliver.

"You can see with [Rashford’s] club that there has been happiness in his performances. We have a different version completely to the player we had in the Euros last summer."

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