Qatar, 30 November - 18 December 2021
AFC
Alireza FAGHANI IRN
Alireza FAGHANI IRN
Mohammadreza MANSOURI IRN
Mohammadreza ABDOLFAZLI IRN
Ryuji SATO JPN
Hiroshi YAMAUCHI JPN
Jun MIHARA JPN
CAF
Bakary GASSAMA GAM
Djibril CAMARA SEN
Elvis NOUPUE CMR
Janny SIKAZWE ZAM
Zakhele SIWELA RSA
Jerson DOS SANTOS ANG
CONCACAF
Fernando HERNANDEZ GOMEZ MEX
Michael BARWEGEN CAN
Karen DIAZ MEDINA MEX
Said MARTINEZ HON
Walter LOPEZ HON
Christian RAMIREZ HON
CONMEBOL
Andres MATONTE URUMartin SOPPI URU
Carlos BARREIRO URU
Wilton SAMPAIO BRA
Danilo SIMON MANIS BRA
Bruno PIRES BRA
Facundo TELLO ARG
Ezequiel BRAILOVSKY ARG
Gabriel CHADE ARG
OFC
Matthew CONGER NZL
Tevita MAKASINI TGA
Bernard MUTUKERA SOL
UEFA
Szymon MARCINIAK POL
Pawel SOKOLNICKI POL
Tomasz LISTKIEWICZ POL
Daniel SIEBERT GER
Rafael FOLTYN GER
Christian GITTELMANN GER
VAR
Abdulla AL-MARRI QAT
Shaun EVANS AUS
Hiroyuki KIMURA JPN
Redouane JIYED MOR
Ibrahim ALY ELSAID EGY
Adonai ESCOBEDO MEX
Fernando GUERRERO MEX
Jair MARRUFO USA
Eber AQUINO PAR
Leodan GONZALEZ URU
Juan SOTO VEN
Rafael TRACI BRA
Tomasz KWIATKOWSKI POL
Guillermo CUADRA ESP
Christian DINGERT GER
Fabio MARESCA ITA
Official PDF:
And again Siebert...
ReplyDeleteGreat selection for Marciniak who got again the trust of UEFA/FIFA based on recent appointments.
I have some doubts about the VAR appointments, why Maresca and Cuadra?
So we can draw finally the conclusion that FIFA has opened the doors to Siebert as well. It seems as Zwayer will not manage to get selected for WC 2022... at least as main referee. Good for Marciniak to find again an excellent path for new challenges after EURO 2020 disappointment.
ReplyDeleteThe choices about VARs are indeed a bit particular... especially regarding Italy.
Happy to see both Siebert and Marciniak both being selected for the Arab Cup. That shows that both are being considered as shortlisting for WC 2022 by FIFA Referee Committee. But have to agree on the European VAR selections.
DeleteOn a side note, Micheal Barwegen (CAN) has been selected as part of the CONCACAF contingent, the only Canadian and another top world case event for the AR.
Siebert is indeed facing a tremendous ramp up; congratulation. I'm surprized by Hernandez Gomez and Tello; from Argentina Rapallini and Loustau are on top of him while the Mexican is too me unknown respect to Escobedo, Guerrero and Ramos Palanzuela. Anybody can explain ?
ReplyDeleteHernández is simply a much (much) better referee than Ramos, Guerrero and Escobedo. A very pleasantly surprising choice IMO! I assumed Hernández had only chances for WC 2026.
DeleteYou can see the close focus which FIFA had on continental competitions such as Gold Cup, too.
I don't follow CONMEBOL very closely but it seems as if Tello and Sampaio are there as consolation while Rapallini and Claus will be at the WC. Matonte's case is quite different though.
Indeed an interesting situation in Argentina, Mexico and Uruguay, which seem to have up to 4 realistic candidates each for the WC (from the outside view).
DeleteInteresting, at least for me, to see both Alireza Faghani and Shaun Evans at this tournament. It means that both will miss the first month of the A-League season in Australia.
ReplyDeleteHow has Faghani performed down under, Jackson?
DeleteBesides some initial praise on random football twitter at the start, I haven't kept across his progress at all - it would be interesting to know how he's gotten on in A-League football!
Well he hasn't had a game since June as the A League won't come back until November but I would say he has kept his usual high quality performances. Judging by this recent selection he appears to be on track for Qatar 2022 alongside Chris Beath who did the A League final in June and the Olympic final in August.
DeleteBakary Gassama entre dans l'histoire.
ReplyDeleteIl a participé dans tous les compétitions sportives de la FIFA
Exactly what I wanted to say, he is an ever present in African football, he is one of a kind but his time is up after Qatar 2022
DeleteI’m curious to see if you guys think the presumption is that these referees are trying to play themselves *into* spots in Qatar, or that most are presumed to have a spot tentatively booked who need one final test? To me it strikes me more as the former. Lots of them look like referees who are in very competitive races for a spot in 2022, are maybe on the fringes or on the outside-looking-in at the moment, and they need a good performance here to prove themselves and win a spot (e.g. Sato, Martinez, Sampaio, Marciniak, Siebert, Sikazwe).
ReplyDeleteThen there are a few surprises who have not (at least until now) seemed to have much of a chance but who knows, maybe a very good performance here can be their chance (Hernandez, Tello, Matonte).
And then of course we have Faghani and Conger, who are both very unsurprising selections here by virtue of their unique circumstances (Conger as the clearly best OFC representative, who is surely on his way to Qatar, and Faghani who is unable to referee in WCQ due to Australia and Iran being in opposite groups and whose domestic league is not playing at the moment). I hope, in Faghani’s case, that this tournament is viewed as crucial preparation for Qatar 2022 in the absence of WCQ matches, and not as a consolation prize that he gets in the absence of another World Cup chance. I am a little worried because the AFC confederation seems to have so much good competition at the moment, so missing the bulk of WCQ must surely be a big disadvantage (and would presumably eliminate basically any referee who is not as excellent as Faghani).
I would say, everyone selected should have a realistic chance for the WC, otherwise it wouldn't make much sense to use them in this preparation tournament.
DeleteAnd I don't believe this can be a consolation prize given the low reputation of the tournament.
Besides that, it seems indeed like a mix between favourites and outsiders, so I don't think there is a clear answer to your question.
Faghani is still refereeing matches in the AFC Champions League though. Did a quarter final a few days ago.
DeleteThere is no way that Tello will be in WC 2022 but Rappalini will not. Rapallini has been used for the biggest games in WC Qualifiers and Tello not really. I can't make any sense of the Tello appointment for the Arab Cup.
ReplyDeleteAs for Sampaio, he is believed to be running neck-to-neck with Claus for the big appointment. CONMEBOL has heavily relied on both of them for big games in WC qualifiers. This leads me to believe that a strong appearance at African Cup may be his winning ticket to the World Cup.I would love to hear more from South American experts on who is currently ahead: Claus or Sampaio?