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There will be accountability eventually. The media will force this, as it often does. I'm surprised that FIFA has not decided to send this referee home for the rest of the tournament, but that may still happen.
The calls were so lopsided in this match that I honestly believe that the only explanation is that the referee was deliberately biased. I've never had occasion to say this before for any World Cup match that I've watched over the past 20 years or so.
There were several fouls that should have been clear yellow cards for obstructing a player from pursuing the ball. And there were numerous routine fouls that were called against the U.S. under suspicious circumstances. Even without the free kick decision, the game was horribly officiated.
But this entire tournament has been the worst display of officiating I've ever seen at this level. FIFA has got to rethink its approach to selecting officials and stop bringing in referees from obscure places like Mali, Uzbekistan, etc. While these officials may have some experience in tournaments like the African Cup of Nations or the AFC Asian Cup, they lack the necessary quality, competence and experience to officiate matches involving the best squads in the world. I even question why they're used in any FIFA sanctioned event. Leave them to their lowly domestic leagues and keep them out of international competition.
FIFA should limit its selection of officials to those from top leagues with the highest UEFA coefficiencts or other relevant regional rankings. Bring experienced officials from places like Brazil, Argentina, England, Germany, France, Italy, USA, Mexico, Japan, and Korea. Any official from a country that does not have a financially stable or truly legitimate top professional league should never be allowed to officiate in the final stages of a FIFA sanctioned tournament.
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