According to COPE, Mateu Lahoz will not be refereeing any of the remaining World Cup games since he is "heading home from Qatar."
The match between Argentina and Holland in the quarterfinals, where the referee issued an astounding 15 yellow cards, was his final one.
Both teams did not think highly of Lahoz's performance, with Argentina's players particularly vociferous about his officiating.
Lionel Messi said:
"I don't want to speak about referees because after they will sanction you. But people saw what happened,"
He continued:
"I think Fifa must take care of this, it cannot put a referee like that for a match of such magnitude, of such importance. The referee cannot fail to be up to the task."
Messi's request to not officiate in the semifinals or championship game appears to have been granted by Fifa.
Emiliano Martinez, the goalkeeper for Argentina, followed his captain in criticizing the official's performance.
Martinez said:
'The referee was just giving everything for them."
"He gave 10 minutes [added time] for no reason. He was giving free-kicks outside the box for them, like two, three times. He just wanted them to score, that's basically it. So, hopefully we don't have that ref anymore. He's useless."
Argentina's World Cup campaign continues, unlike Lahoz, despite their criticism of the referee.
In order to secure a spot in the World Cup final, Messi and his team mates take on Croatia in the semifinals.
On the other hand, Frenkie de Jong, a midfielder for Barcelona, criticized Mateu Lahoz after the Netherlands lost to Argentina in penalties to exit the World Cup.
Lahoz, as usual, stood out in the increasingly turbulent game as he issued 14 yellow cards and nearly lost control of the tense match between the two teams.
De Jong wasn't at all impressed with the referee, who he is familiar with from his time playing for Barcelona in La Liga.
Not everyone who criticized Lahoz after the game agreed with the Dutchman. Even Lionel Messi, who was flagged for a clear handball but didn't receive a yellow card, yelled at the referee
From all this we can see the indication that the referee Mateu Lahoz was challenged by both side that's Argentina and Netherlands and almost lost control of the match.