The Uzbek referee has come under heavy criticism after Paraguay finished the ill-tempered encounter without a single yellow card despite committing 12 fouls and engaging in several heated confrontations throughout the match.
France, meanwhile, had three players booked as tensions boiled over during and after the game, with players from both teams clashing following the final whistle after Paraguay's elimination.
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart and former Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, who were on punditry duty for BBC Sport, strongly criticised Paraguay's physical approach, describing the South American side's conduct as a "disgrace."
Football fans also took to social media to express frustration with Tantashev's officiating, accusing him of failing to control the game and adequately protect players.
One supporter wrote: "Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev with an extraordinary performance. No interest in refereeing, no interest in applying the laws of the game, no interest in player welfare or well-being. France very fortunate to avoid serious injuries."
Another fan posted: "That was one of the worst referee performances I have ever seen at any level."
A third added: "Not one yellow card for Paraguay. Shocking performance from the ref."
Several supporters also called on FIFA to remove the official from the remainder of the tournament.
"Ilgiz Tantashev needs a red card and should be suspended for the rest of the World Cup. How can he seriously not think Paraguay deserved a booking?" one fan wrote.
France secured the victory thanks to a 70th-minute penalty converted by captain Kylian Mbappé, booking a place in the quarter-finals where Les Bleus will face Morocco.
The encounter was overshadowed by repeated physical challenges on Mbappé, who was the target of several robust tackles throughout the match.
Following the final whistle, the French captain declined to shake hands with Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill, who then threw the ball in Mbappé's direction in apparent frustration.
Reacting to the incident, Joe Hart praised Mbappé's composure and criticised both Paraguay's tactics and the referee's management of the game.
“I absolutely love how he's behaved in this game because they have come for him from minute one,” Hart said.
“The Paraguayan players were an absolute disgrace tonight. If they were on my team I'd be dragging half of them off the pitch. I would never want to win that way, I would never want to play football that way and the referee didn't help in any of the circumstances. The fact that not one Paraguayan was booked inside the 90 minutes today is absolutely astonishing.”
Former France striker Thierry Henry also commended Didier Deschamps' side for maintaining their discipline despite the physical nature of the contest.
“Football won,” Henry said.
“I don't want to talk about Paraguay. I want to talk about what France did. How they stayed composed. How Kylian Mbappé was laughing at the end. How a lot of the players didn't react to the provocation. It's not always going to be easy. But well done, they stayed calm. It was very difficult, but like I said, football won.”
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