Furious Croatia defender Dejan Lovren branded the penalty awarded against him during Brazil's 3-1 win in the World Cup opener on Thursday a "scandal", questioning the referee's right to be officiating at the showpiece event.

Unfancied Croatia took a shock lead when Marcelo put the ball into his own net early in the Group A match before Neymar levelled in front of a jubilant crowd in the Corinthians Arena.

But the European side were holding their own in the second half until Japanese ref Yuichi Nishimura pointed to the spot after Fred backed into Lovren and fell.

"I think this referee didn't deserve to be here," said the Southampton player. "It's really disappointing for us because I think we were playing a good game against a big team, Brazil.

"Two billion people saw that it was not a penalty. I didn't touch him. We're really disappointed but what can you do against 12 players? You can't do anything," he added.

"I'm sad, that's it, because we played a good match and the referee — it wasn't a mistake, it was a scandal. It's a scandal for everyone, it's a scandal for FIFA. I think this referee shouldn't be at this World Cup."

However, Brazi coach  Luiz Felipe Scolari was adamant Nishimura was correct to award the spot kick converted by Neymar to make the score 2-1.

Scoralri said: "For me it was a penalty. I have seen it 10 times now and I think it was a penalty."