Costa Rica vs New Zealand World Cup 2022 Playoff Full VAR cause New Zealand to lose the match

All Whites coach Danny Hay has claimed Fifa “let us down’' after the All Whites suffered the wrong end of some crucial refereeing decisions in the 1-0 World Cup playoff loss to Costa Rica.

Chris Wood had a goal disallowed and a penalty shout ruled out and Kosta Barbarouses copped a second half red card in Doha on Wednesday morning (NZ time).

Hay hit out at the post-match press conference, criticising the appointment of match officials from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar without European competitions experience.

Asked if he felt let down, he said: “100 per cent’’, saying he thought the All Whites had not got the same quality of officials as Australia and Peru, who had a largely Europe-based team officiating in Monday night’s playoff.

“They have let us down in putting somebody in charge who has clearly not officiated at this sort of level.’’

The Australia-Peru game – won by the Socceroos on penalties – had Slovenia’s Slavko Vinčić as referee with two fellow Slovenes as his assistants and two South Africans as fourth and fifth officials.

The New Zealand-Costa Rica match officials operate largely in the Asian confenderation. They have refereed in recent regional finals, but lack the European experience of Vinčić and his team.

All Whites captain Winston Reid – who was booked for his vehement reaction to Kosta Barbarouses’ second-half red card – also felt the appointments weren’t “good enough for a big match like this’’.

"My general concern, I wish Fifa for a game like this would have given us someone more experienced. But that's the way it is,’’ he said on Sky TV.

“There were some decisions that just didn't go our way, unfortunately. But that's part of football and that's what happened today. It's just disappointing."

Meanwhile, Chris Wood was also fuming afterwards, saying some of the decisions that went against the All Whites were “extremely harsh’’.

But referee Mohamed was alerted by the VAR to check the screen after protests by Costa Rica about an alleged foul by Garbett on Óscar Duarte in the buildup.

After a protracted review, the Dubai referee ruled out the goal, much to the chagrin of the All Whites.

Wood said in a pitchside television interview that “some decisions went against us that I thought were extremely harsh’’.

He said “refs need to trust their instincts at times’’ but he was generally pleased with the All Whites’ performance and felt the display boded well for the future of the young side.

Wood felt the All Whites were “the dominant side’’ in terms of the possession and shooting statistics.

Left-back Liberato Cacace said later on Sky TV that he felt the All Whites “could have had two penalties in that game’’ and goalkeeper Oli Sail also told Sky the ruling that Garbett had fouled his rival was “so soft’’.

Former All Whites striker Fred de Jong called it “a travesty’’ and former All Whites keeper Jacob Spoonley slated it as a “shocking decision’’ with “minute contact’’ between Garbett and his Costa Rican opponent.

The All Whites trailled 1-0 at halftime after former Arsenal striker Joel Campbell scored for Costa Rica on the third minute after a concentration lapse by the Kiwi defence.

But the New Zealanders bounced back to dominate the first half with Wood causing problems for the Costa Rican rearguard.

Wood had a penalty shout disallowed by VAR just before his overturned goal. He remonstrated with Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas after he hit the deck in the penalty area.