Appointments of match officials at 2026 FIFA World Cup, Round of 32.
Match #73
Round of 32
28 June 2026, 21:00 CET
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood
SOUTH AFRICA - CANADA
Referee: João Pinheiro POR
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Jesus POR
Assistant Referee 2: Luciano Maia POR
Fourth Official: Omar Al Ali UAE
Reserve AR: Mohamed Al Hammadi UAE
Video Assistant Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Rodolpho Toski BRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Hernan Mastrangelo ARG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Hernan Mastrangelo ARG
Match #74
Round of 32
29 June 2026, 22:30 CET
Gillette Stadium, Foborough
GERMANY - PARAGUAY
Referee: Jalal Jayed MAR
Assistant Referee 1: Zakaria Brinsi MAR
Assistant Referee 2: Mostafa Akarkad MAR
Fourth Official: Ma Ning CHN
Reserve AR: Zhou Fei CHN
Video Assistant Referee: Tatiana Guzman NCA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Hamza El Fariq MAR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Abdullah Alshehri KSA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Abdullah Alshehri KSA
Match #75
Round of 32
30 June 2026, 03:00 CET
Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe
NETHERLANDS - MOROCCO
Referee: Wilton Sampaio BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Pires BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Boschilia BRA
Fourth Official: Cristian Garay CHI
Reserve AR: José Retamal CHI
Video Assistant Referee: Nicolas Gallo COL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Leodan Gonzalez URU
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Armando Villarreal USA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Armando Villarreal USA
Match #76
Round of 32
29 June 2026, 19:00 CET
NRG Stadium, Houston
BRAZIL - JAPAN
Referee: Maurizio Mariani ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Daniele Bindoni ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Tegoni ITA
Fourth Official: Sandro Schärer SUI
Reserve AR: Stéphane De Almeida SUI
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Di Bello ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Ivan Bebek CRO
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Joe Dickerson USA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Joe Dickerson USA
Match #77
Round of 32
30 June 2026, 23:00 CET
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford
FRANCE - SWEDEN
Referee: Danny Makkelie NED
Assistant Referee 1: Hessel Steegstra NED
Assistant Referee 2: Jan de Vries NED
Fourth Official: Tori Penso USA
Reserve AR: Brooke Mayo USA
Video Assistant Referee: Dennis Johan Higler NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Bram Van Driessche BEL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Tomasz Kwiatkowski POL
Match #78
Round of 32
30 June 2026, 19:00 CET
AT&T Stadium, Arlington
IVORY COAST - NORWAY
Referee: Jesus Valenzuela VEN
Assistant Referee 1: Jorge Urriego VEN
Assistant Referee 2: Tulio Moreno VEN
Fourth Official: Juan Gabriel Benitez PAR
Reserve AR: Eduardo Cardozo PAR
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Lara CHI
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Juan Soto VEN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Jarred Gillett ENG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Jarred Gillett ENG
Match #79
Round of 32
1 July 2026, 03:00 CET
Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
MEXICO - ECUADOR
Referee: Slavko Vinčić SVNAssistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič SVN
Fourth Official: Mustapha Ghorbal ALG
Reserve AR: Mokrane Gourari ALG
Video Assistant Referee: Bastian Dankert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Willy Delajod FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Mahmoud Ashour EGY
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Mahmoud Ashour EGY
Match #80
Round of 32
1 July 2026, 18:00 CET
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
ENGLAND - DR CONGO
Referee: Adham Mohammad Tumah Makhadmeh JOR
Assistant Referee 1: Mohammad Alkalaf JOR
Assistant Referee 2: Ahmad Alroalle JOR
Fourth Official: Khalid Alturais KSA
Reserve AR: Mohammed Alabakry KSA
Video Assistant Referee: Khamis Al Marri QAT
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Mohammed Obaid Khadim UAE
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Joe Dickerson USA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Joe Dickerson USA
Match #81
Round of 32
2 July 2026, 02:00 CET
Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara
USA - BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Referee: Raphael Claus BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Danilo Manis BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Rodrigo Figueiredo BRA
Fourth Official: Dario Herrera ARG
Reserve AR: Cristian Navarro ARG
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Soto VEN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Nicolas Gallo COL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Jerome Brisard FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Jerome Brisard FRA
Match #82
Round of 32
1 July 2026, 22:00 CET
Lumen Field, SeattleBELGIUM - SENEGAL
Referee: Said Martinez HON
Assistant Referee 1: Walter Lopez HON
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Ramierz HON
Fourth Official: Andrés Rojas COL
Reserve AR: Alexander Guzman COL
Video Assistant Referee: Guillermo Pacheco MEX
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Rodolpho Toski BRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
Match #83
Round of 32
3 July 2026, 01:00 CET
BMO Field, TorontoPORTUGAL - CROATIA
Referee: Espen Eskas NOR
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Erik Engan NOR
Assistant Referee 2: Isaak Bashevkin NOR
Fourth Official: Abongile Tom RSA
Reserve AR: Zakhele Thusi Granville Siwela RSA
Video Assistant Referee: Jarred Gillett ENG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Dennis Johan Higler NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Marco Di Bello ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Marco Di Bello ITA
Match #84
Round of 32
2 July 2026, 21:00 CET
SoFi Stadium, InglewoodSPAIN - AUSTRIA
Referee: Glenn Nyberg SWE
Assistant Referee 1: Mahbod Beigi SWE
Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Söderkvist SWE
Fourth Official: Dahane Beida MTN
Reserve AR: Elvis Noupue CMR
Video Assistant Referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski POL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Fedayi San SUI
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Shauns Evans AUS
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Shauns Evans AUS
Match #85
Round of 32
3 July 2026, 05:00 CET
BC Place, VancouverSWITZERLAND - ALGERIA
Referee: Yael Falcon Perez ARG
Assistant Referee 1: Masimiliano Del Yesso ARG
Assistant Referee 2: Facundo Rodriguez ARG
Fourth Official: Kevin Ortega PER
Reserve AR: Michael Orue PER
Video Assistant Referee: Hernan Mastrangelo ARG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Erick Miranda MEX
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Juan Lara CHI
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Juan Lara CHI
Match #86
Round of 32
4 July 2026, 00:00 CET
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami GardensARGENTINA - CAPE VERDE
Referee: Drew Fischer CAN
Assistant Referee 1: Micheal Barwegen CAN
Assistant Referee 2: Lyes Arfa CAN
Fourth Official: Katia Garcia MEX
Reserve AR: Sandra Ramirez MEX
Video Assistant Referee: Aramando Villarreal USA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Ivan Bebek CRO
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Tatiana Guzman NCA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Tatiana Guzman NCA
Match #87
Round of 32
4 July 2026, 03:30 CET
Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas CityCOLOMBIA - GHANA
Referee: Clément Turpin FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Benjamin Pagès FRA
Fourth Official: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández ESP
Reserve AR: José Enrique Naranjo Pérez ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Jerom Brisard FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Willy Delajod FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Fu Ming CHN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Fu Ming CHN
Match #88
Round of 32
3 July 2026, 20:00 CET
AT&T Stadium, Arlington
AUSTRALIA - EGYPT
Referee: Gustavo Tejera URU
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Barreiro URU
Assistant Referee 2: Nicolas Taran URU
Fourth Official: Sandro Schärer SUI
Reserve AR: Stéphane De Almeida SUI
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Barreiro URU
Assistant Referee 2: Nicolas Taran URU
Fourth Official: Sandro Schärer SUI
Reserve AR: Stéphane De Almeida SUI
Video Assistant Referee: Leodan Gonzalez URU
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Antonio Garcia URU
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Bastian Dankert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Bastian Dankert GER
Will be interesting to see how FIFA handles games where not all Teams are known. In theory tomorrow Germanys Opponent could be still unknown (only narrowed a bit down), so will they just go with the most likely Opponent or just appoint someone, even if they break Confederation neutrality?
ReplyDeleteWhile it may be unknown, after tomorrow it could only be a max. of 5 other nations so it wouldn't be difficult to still appoint and keep confed. neutrality
DeleteI think North American (Barton or Ramos) will be make sense for Germany versus their opponent (SCO, PAR, or SWE)
DeleteIn my view, João Pinheiro could follow a similar tournament trajectory to his compatriot Olegário Benquerença in 2010, when he - somewhat unexpectedly, at least from my perspective - officiated a quarter-final. Recently, the Portuguese referee has come in for considerable criticism from some. However, I have had the impression that he is held in high regard by FIFA, not least given that he officiated a semi-final at both the 2023 U-17 World Cup and the 2025 U-20 World Cup. If he delivers a convincing performance in the round of 32, I would see him well placed to remain in contention for at least a quarter-final appointment.
ReplyDeleteFIFA really supports him much, but I don't see why
DeleteBecause you need to be more "open mind". He is not the best referee in the world but did you saw his phisical condition? (it is above all that you could expect). Is game management? the errors that he comited one time, its opportunity to improve to the next game. In the beginning he was week. But each game that he oficiatte is better than in previous game.. its notbmy favorite referee but he deserved what he get.
DeleteThought he was excellent in first game - on merit (so far) he deserves to go further.
DeleteUSA - Bosnia predictions?
ReplyDeleteCould definitely see Tejera in this appointment . Tejera or Claus for me
DeleteI would go for Sampaio right now.
DeletePredictions for Monday:
ReplyDeleteBrazil - Japan: Clement Turpin, Nicolas Danos, Benjamin Pages (all FRA), Szymon Marciniak (POL) - Jerome Brisard, Willy Delajod (both FRA), Hamzi El-Fariq (MAR)
Germany - Paraguay(?): Pierre Atcho, Boris Ditsoga, Amos Ndong (all GAB), Dahane Beida (MTN) - Erick Miranda (MEX), Mohammed Obaid (UAE), Armando Villareal (USA)
Netherlands - Morocco: Raphael Claus, Danilo Manis, Rodrigo Figueiredo (all BRA), Said Martinez (HON) - Nicolas Gallo (COL), Fu Ming (CHN), Antonio Garcia (URU)
Considering how badly my predictions have been - here goes for Monday:
ReplyDeleteBrazil - Japan: Mariani/Tom/Di Bello
Germany - Paraguay(?): Omar / Ning / Al Marri
Netherlands - Morocco: Tejera / Rojas / Gonzales
It really depends on the number of referees, FIFA decide to retain and the breakdown of the continents ,I expect the majority will be from South America and Europe plus a couple from Central America.
ReplyDeletePredictions
ReplyDeleteBrazil - Japan: Eskas
Netherlands - Morocco: Sampaio
The winner of BRA-JPN could play against Norway in the next round, therefore I think, Eskas should be avoided there.
DeleteAlso he had BRA as 4th on MD3, which seems unneccessary, if the plan was to use him for this R32 game.
It's logical, but a match with Norway is likely, but not certain....Moreover, some of the actions in the appointments so far have not been consistent at all. We'll find out soon.
DeleteUpdate Predictions after the clarification of Philipp S and the clarity in the other games.
DeleteBrazil - Japan: Turpin
Germany - Paraguay:Beida
Netherlands - Morocco: Claus
OT: BBC News - World Cup 2026: Has VAR become a lottery? - BBC Sport
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c8e2ynrp7kro
A good article by Dale Johnson who has summoned I feel many frustrations surrounding VAR at this tournament.
Breaking news: The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has lodged a formal complaint with FIFA challenging the disallowed goal by Vinícius Junior in the match against Scotland.
ReplyDeleteI believe Ramos and Pacheco have landed themselves in a tight spot, and I don't know if they will get any further opportunities in this World Cup.
I have never understood what the point of such official complaints is: there is no breach of the rules, so the chances of annulment and a replay are effectively zero. Is the aim to take revenge and make the referee unappointable due to negative media publicity? Is one hoping for an instruction from FIFA to future referees to offer some form of compensation? What exactly is the objective?
DeleteWhether it is an act of revenge, no one knows. But the curious thing is that the document cites refereeing criteria involving Argentina as well. Collina and Busacca have stepped into a minefield.
DeletePacheco has been appointed as VAR for Fischer, so he has at least not been rejected by FIFA for SCO-BRA.
DeleteRD Congo x Uzbequistão- referee Will be Felix Zwayer( Germany)
ReplyDeleteVAR stats after group stage (VAR / AVAR1 / AVAR2)
ReplyDeleteGallo: 4 / 3 / 1
Lara: 4 / 2 / 1
Pacheco: 4 / 2 / 1
Guzman: 4 / 1 / 3
Gonzalez: 3 / 4 / 1
Dickerson: 3 / 3 / 1
Al Marri: 3 / 2 / 3
Gillett: 3 / 2 / 3
Soto: 3 / 2 / 3
Bebek: 3 / 2 / 2
di Bello: 3 / 2 / 2
Villareal: 3 / 2 / 2
Mastrangelo: 3 / 1 / 5
Brisard: 3 / 1 / 3
Dankert: 3 / 0 / 5
del Cerro Grande: 3 / 0 / 5
Garcia: 2 / 5 / 1
Miranda: 2 / 5 / 0
Higler: 2 / 4 / 1
Ashour: 2 / 2 / 2
Kwiatkowski: 2 / 1 / 5
Alshehri: 2 / 1 / 4
van Driessche: 2 / 1 / 4
Delajod: 1 / 6 / 0
Toski: 1 / 4 / 3
San: 1 / 4 / 2
Obaid: 1 / 3 / 2
El-Fariq: 1 / 3 / 1
Fu: 1 / 2 / 3
Evans: 0 / 2 / 3
Good summary Philip bravo well stated
DeleteOne sure thing we can say, Evans with that gesture lost the chance to be main VAR for a game, all the others were assigned at least once in the main role from the room.
DeleteAnother particular remark is about Delajod, called as replacement after Dieperink withdrawal, and we can see that he got only one game because he was not planned before and they had already a strong name from France getting the big ones.
Predictions
ReplyDeleteHolland v Morocco - Claus (Brazil) or Herrera (Arg)
Brazil v Japan - Letexier (France)
How much do referees and VAR referees get paid per match?
ReplyDeleteChrome with that answer swift and instantly
DeleteEskas will get one of the must sonorous games of this first roud of playoff. Deserved
ReplyDeleteBRA-JPN - Elfath (USA)
ReplyDeleteNED-MOR - Claus (BRA)
FRA-SWE - Mariani (ITA)
CAN-RSA - Turpin (FRA)
USA-BSH - Atcho (GAB)
Would be better than Pinheiro
DeleteElfath with Japan again?
DeleteAfter WC 2022 R16 Cro vs Jpn.
2026 Ned vs Jpn group stage.
Fab GX. each prediction each error
DeleteThis isn't a prediction. It's just my guess as to what the best appointments would be, but evidently, it wasn't Collina's choice: Pinheiro had already been chosen.
DeletePredictions for Tuesday
ReplyDeleteIvory Coast - Norway: Said Martinez, Christian Ramirez, Walter Lopez (all HON), Dario Herrera (ARG) - Armando Villareal (USA), Erick Miranda (MEX), Abdullah Al-Shehri (KSA)
France - Sweden: Slavko Vincic, Tomaz Klancnik, Andraz Kovacic (all SVN), Katia Garcia (MEX) - Ivan Bebek (CRO), Fedayi San (SUI), Carlos del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Mexico - Ecuador(?): Espen Eskas, Jan Engan, Isaak Bashevkin (all NOR), Alireza Faghani (AUS) - Willy Delajod (FRA), Dennis Higler (NED), Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteBefore quarterfinal we will have, probably, 24 different referees:
ReplyDeletePInheiro, Eskas, Tejera and Benitez will obtain their second match.
So we have 20 referees with third match:
Almost sure
UEFA ( 7 ): Letexier, Turpin, Oliver, Mariani, Marchiniak, Vincic and Nyberg
CONMEBOL ( 3): Sampaio, Tello, Valenzuela
CONCACAF ( 3 ): Elfath, Barton, Ramos
After them we will have 2 or 3 for AFC (Faghani, Tantashev and Al Jassim), 1 for CAF (probably Atcho), and 4/5 more from Uefa and Conmebol.
Makkelie will certainly get a third match too.
DeleteMakellei does not made good perfomance so i think he will act as fourth official for one 32 games then he go home
DeleteMakellei does not made good perfomance so i think he will act as fourth official for one 32 games then he go home
Delete@Blog Adminstrator: I think the behavior of Abdiaziz ahmed yousuf is not acceptable. He permanently writes „Makkelei“ instead of „Makkelie“ and I admit this is a deliberated sign of disrespect. It‘s one thing that his only intention to write comments here is to promote one specific referee but I think it’s not okay to treat other referees in this kind. Can you do something against that?
DeleteJousuf seems unteachable and very unfriendly toward other referees. This happens very often; my suggestion is to ban him.
DeleteWith Round of 32 then 16; Should we be expecting more "lower" referees in the Round of 32 given the more knock out stages and this being a little less.
ReplyDeleteFor me BRA - JPN Mariani
ReplyDeleteGER - PAR Martinez
NED - MOR Tejera
IVC - NOR Herrera
FRA - SWE Vincic
MEX - SEN Falcon
USA - BOS Claus
Still no announcement? Referees for monday games won't have to much time to prepare?
ReplyDeleteIt's understandable that you want the whole picture of R32 games to make better appointments.
DeleteBut it is quite possible, that at least the referees for Monday know their games by now.
It would also be a bit strange, if you prepare explicitly for the teams in training for the group stage games, but don't have time for that for the more important KO games.
Brazil - Japan Mariani ITA
ReplyDeleteGermany - Paraguay Jayed MAR
Netherlands - Morocco Sampaio BRA
Sampaio again for a big big game, surprising to not let him breathe with ''easiest'' game
DeleteAlso mentionable: Second match for Jayed with Germany being involved.
DeleteGreat appointment for Mariani, arguably most sonorous game of the R32. Didn't expect it honestly. Sampaio continues tournament of high profile games. Big trust in him. Jayed, as I said earlier, most viable option for CAF representative in KO stages, considering their level of performance in group stage.
ReplyDeleteOT : Benoît Bastien retires from refereeing, and becomes the new Head of Refereeing (professionnal sector) of FFF.
ReplyDeleteWOW, where do you see that ?
Deletehttps://www.instagram.com/p/DaGOiUrjOqO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
DeleteThat’s a big surprise, he was still in the elite category for UEFA and correct appointments in UCL. Hope he will do well in that position. Don’t know what will happen in FFF, I think that position was occupied by Delerue so big changes for French refereeing direction.
DeleteI wonder if the FFF will promote another two referees from Ligue 2 / keep someone demoted for Frappart and Bastien!
DeleteThat's a great point @Euro soccer ref, i think they will have to do it they can't miss 2 refs imo.
DeleteReally big appointment for Mariani..
ReplyDeleteSampaio also getting only big games
Shocked that a debutant is getting one of the biggest matches in the World Cup - I know meritocracy is important but surely you'd go for someone with more experience
DeleteIt seems they perceive Sampaio as extremley reliable, technically very good referee (and rightly so) but for some reasons they don't see him in the final, therefore sacrificing him with this biggest R32 game.
ReplyDeleteMariani lost control at the end of COLCOD after ignoring a reckless cynical challenge in 83' but his first performance was good enough to merit another appointment.
It's interesting how they manage CAF referees:
- Beida totally rejected after missing a handball penalty (and handball at Austria's goal earlier in the game) in AUTJOR although his performance was good overall
- Jayed given another chance after nervous and technically poor impression in GERCUW, then forgiven a missed foul in APP at Uzbekistan's goal in an otherwise strong performance in PORUZB
- Atcho with two not-so-good performances but avoiding blatant mistakes will make him handle a game in R32?
- Ghorbal also with two so-so performances but will be rejected to not give two spots to Arab referees and Atcho will take it?
Beida was the best of the bunch him being rejected is ridiculous. The first OFR was impossible to see and the penalty nobody even asked for… compare that to Atcho who comes across as amateurish more often than not
DeleteI agree!
DeleteAfter all performances, i will conclude in my view with top 5 candidates for WC final:
ReplyDelete1. Letexier
2.Vincic
3.Nyberg
4.Makelkie
5. Oliver
All europeans?
DeleteFor me: Elfath, Oliver, Letexier, Turpin, Barton.
DeleteElfath??? After yesterday????
DeletePlease not Vincic….
DeleteFaghani war der Favorit. Denke es wird Barton
DeleteGood analysis above by Euro Soccer Ref.
ReplyDeleteIn short, big trust in Sampaio, no problem the first game.
CAF referees: Beida rejected for the handball in the last minute, this was a very mandatory call. The other situation was hard to see.
The Moroccan still gets trust, but he made an OFR, he could have seen the penalty with a better positioning, as I wrote in the specific post.
However, it seems Collina didn't care about that, or maybe decided that he was the best performer from CAF so far.
Nevertheless, once again, let me underline that with Germany FIFA seems to be more flexible and relaxed in assignments, after Penso in group stage (but OK, they had already 6 points), now a CAF referee in a KO stage clash UEFA - CONMEBOL. Not for all national teams, I would say, in other circumstances not easy to make such choices.
Then, Atcho, again, I didn't watch his games in full, reported as very poor, but as long as there wasn't any crucial mistake, one can maybe still expect him. We will see. Ghorbal situation should be clear, not good in the first game.
Last but not least, let's not forget Artan affair and so maybe African referees will get more also for this reason... it's hard to ignore.
Mariani: very good assignment, but for me the maximum he can reach. Honestly the last minutes of his previous games were difficult, But FIFA can always surprise us.
Chefren, what will you said,after group phase,who was best performer,and who is based on you,based only on merit, contender for final?
DeleteCall me biased, but I think it's hard to find a referee like Barton. I'm really enthusiast in watching him, it's incredible what you can find there. I would appoint him for the final if good performance in the next game ( round of 16, maybe?).
DeleteIf the referee has to come from CONCACAF, then we have the name I think.
As for the rest, I saw mostly very easy games for most of UEFA referees, without real challenges. We should wait more...
No,its absolutley legitimate. I see Letexier,you see Barton. Someone else see Elfath etc.So,thank you.
DeleteBarton Turpin Oliver Valenzuela has been to me the best performers
DeleteI think the general flow of the poor handling and poor management of the referees in the group stage moves onto the L32 round now. Jayed for Germany v Paraguay a massive game for him, one I don’t see him as strong enough but good luck to him. Wilton for Holland v Morocco is a good choice.
ReplyDeleteI feel Collina and Bussacca have lost it like Bielsa last night for Uruguay it’s like they are sinking and now just throwing out whatever they wish.
It’s been the worst World Cup for refereeing I have ever seen in 40 years of living
If your username in is reference to who I think it is. I tip my hat to you. Because your taste in referees is magnefique!
DeleteLooking at the unrecognizable disarray that Collina and Busacca have brought to officiating. Reminds me of how much I miss refereeing masters like Castrilli, Brizio-Carter, Milton-Nielsen, Ramos-Rizo, Frisk, Heber Lopes, Merk, etc.....
Referees who were quick to whistle for fouls and enforce the laws of the game without backing down from players or team managers. Real referees! Not "actors".
+1
DeleteFor the Moroccan Jayed it's not on merit but for being the next WC host, they needed a strong name for 2030 as the host crew and so do Spain ( I won't be surprised to see Hernandez Hernandez at Round 32)
ReplyDeleteJayed is a real surprise to me. I think, he was one of the weakest performers in the tournament, only trusted with very one-sided games and one of the least experienced referees of the tournament. Furthermore it seems unneccessary to repeat a team for a referee so early given the large number of referees and teams.
ReplyDeleteMariani and Sampaio weren't my favourites for those games, because I don't see them among the top performers, but the appointments can be justified.
All three referees didn't work on MD3, so rest seems to be an important factor. So Vincic should be quite expected for Tuesday, either for France or for Mexico.
Interesting, that no referee with one game was appointed for Monday. With every day, their chances are shrinking, I think.
Schärer as 4th official shows that the pure support referees can still be used in this round (not too surprising).
Netherlands-Morocco: Sampaio
ReplyDeleteBrazil-Japan: Mariani
(Both predictable, understandable and deserved appointments)
Germany-Paraguay: Jayed???
MA Ning will be 4O for Jayed. Ok, I’m totally speechless. I don’t think Jayed’s performance in 2 GS matches are way better than Ma, or better than any other refs in this WC, really undeserved appointment.
prediction
ReplyDeleteCIV-NOR Tejera
FRA-SWE Vincic
MEX-ECU Turpin
ENG-COD Barton
BEL-SEN Tantashev
USA-BIH Tello
ESP-AUT Eskas
POR-CRO Letexier
SWI-EGY Makhadmeh
ARG-CPV Ramos
COL-GHA Oliver
R16: Marciniak, Valenzuela, Makkelie, Faghani, Fischer, Zwayer, Elfath, Abatti/Falcon
QF: 2 from Oliver/Letexier/Turpin, 1 from Tello/Sampaio, 1from Barton/Tantashev
SF: 1 from Makkelie/Vincic, 1 from Valenzuela/Sampaio/Tello
Al-Jassim, Atcho, Ghorbal, Nyberg, Benitez, Taylor, Amin, Martinez, Kovacs, Claus, Herrera will be on 4th official duties. (I know some of them are good, but I consider the preference among the referees from the same country/federation by FIFA)
Ramos and Tantashev can be swapped so that Tantashev can take longer break
ReplyDeletepredictions
ReplyDeleteCIV-NOR Valenzuela
FRA-SWE Makkelie
MEX-ECU Vincic
ENG-COD Ramos
BEL-SEN Tejera
USA-BIH Tello
ESP-AUT Nyberg
POR-CRO Turpin
SWI-ALG Abatti/Falcon
AUS-EGY Barton
ARG-CPV Tantashev
COL-GHA Oliver
R16: Faghani, Elfath, Sampaio, Tello, Marciniak, Taylor, Letexier, Mariani
QF: Oliver, Turpin/Vincic, Barton
SF: Marciniak, Valenzuela
England could face Mexico in the next round. For that match, I wouldn’t appoint Ramos. I’m not sure how sensible it is to predict the (same) referees for the upcoming rounds without knowing how their remaining performances will turn out.
DeleteMine are
DeleteCIV-NOR Elfath
FRA-SWE Tello
MEX-ECU Vincic
ENG-COD Makhadmeh
BEL-SEN Barton
USA-BIH Al-Jassim
ESP-AUT Abatti
POR-CRO Zwayer
SWI-ALG Fischer
AUS-EGY Nyberg
ARG-CPV Makkelie
COL-GHA Letexier
Full version:
DeleteCIV-NOR Elfath - Ortega - Guzman, Villareal, Miranda
FRA-SWE Tello - Tom - Mastrangelo, Gonzalez, del Cerro Grande
MEX-ECU Vincic - Hernandez - Bebek, San, van Driessche
ENG-COD Makhadmeh - Rojas - Soto, Garcia, Obaid
BEL-SEN Barton - Tejera - Gallo, Fu, Al Marri
USA-BIH Al-Jassim - Kawana - Lara, Alshehri, Ashour
ESP-AUT Abatti - Benitez - Toski, Gonzalez, Mastrangelo
POR-CRO Zwayer - Herrera - Dankert, El-Fariq, van Driessche
SWI-ALG Fischer - Araki - Pacheco, Miranda, Villareal
AUS-EGY Nyberg - Calderon - del Cerro Grande, Delajod, Kwiatkowski
ARG-CPV Makkelie - Nation - Higler, San, Bebek
COL-GHA Letexier - Al-Turais - di Bello, Obaid, Al Marri
Mariani is Italian like Ancelotti (coach of Brasil). No conflict of interest?
ReplyDeleteWas that not already the case in 2018, when the opening match between hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia was officiated by the eventual final referee Néstor Fabián Pitana? At the time, the Asian side was coached by Juan Antonio Pizzi Torroja, who, although Spanish, was also born in Argentina.
DeleteIn 2022, the match between hosts Qatar and Senegal was refereed by Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz. The Asian team was coached by Félix Sánchez Bas, a Spaniard by birth.
Such examples are by no means rare.
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ReplyDeleteBreaking news from the FIFA World Cup refereeing headquarters:
DeleteGlenn Nyberg: “Collie, after careful consideration, I have come to the moral conclusion that I should not be officiating France vs. Sweden.”
Nyberg (Swe) probably won’t referee Sweden :-)
ReplyDeleteCVR vs NRO: Ramos
ReplyDeleteFRA vs SWE: Makkelie
MEX vs ECU: Letexier
ENG vs COD: Tantashev
BEL vs SEN: Tello
USA vs BIH: Valenzuela
ESP vs AUT: Vincic
POR vs CRO: Marciniak
SWI vs ALG: Claus
AUS vs EGY: Tejera
ARG vs CPV: El Jassim
COL vs GHA: Nyberg
Saved to 1/8 Barton, Elfath and Faghani for UEFA/CONMBEBOL match.
Of course Nyberg can't be the referee for France-Sweden...
I think Nyberg could be a dark horse to go far.... hes been superb in his 1st 2 matches and he will probably be a safe bet of his country not being left in the tournament late on
ReplyDeleteFRA vs SWE - Makkelie (NED) / Penso (USA)
ReplyDeleteCVR vs NRO - Valenzuela (VEN) / Benitez (PRY)
MEX vs ECU - Vincic (SVN) / Ghorbal (ALG)
Very good appointment for vincic..
DeleteVincic is always appointed to high-stakes matches, which makes him one of the top candidates for the final.
ReplyDeleteConfirmed
ReplyDeleteFRA - SWE: Makkelie
CIV - NOR: Valenzuela
MEX - ECU: Vincic
I think MEX vs ECU could be very challenging for Vincic. Not sure his style will work in that game, but he will need to use the most of his managerial abilities.
ReplyDeleteGood game for vincic but I don’t think this match suits Vinčić’s style.
ReplyDelete“high tension with aggressive players”
Ivan Barton would have been a great choice for this game.
Barton isn't getting Mexico in the World Cup.
DeleteEl Salvador would even be fairly “neutral” from a geographical point of view between Mexico and Ecuador. All all-European matchups so far have consistently been assigned to UEFA referees. The main issue with MEXECU is most likely that these two countries belong to different confederations.
DeleteCould never happen as long as they want to keep confederation neutrality. Barton is from CONCACAF.
Delete@Peter UEFA referees got all UEFA matches. Here you are talking about CONCACAF referee being assigned to team from his confederation against team from another. I really think confederation neutrality will be broken at QF at earliest
Delete@Filip: I didn’t write anything else.
DeleteI disagree. Vincic is someone who has constantly refereed high-tension matches, like Panathinaikos - Olympiacos and Fenerbahçe - Galatasaray. The tension in these two matches cannot be compared to anything else. Especially in the Gala - Fener derby, there were nearly 30,000 police and security personnel. He managed those matches without any trouble
ReplyDeleteA joke... or maybe not!
ReplyDeleteIf Rosetti had been in Collina's position, he probably wouldn't have appointed Makkelie to a France match because of PSG..
But I want to answer seriously to a statement above about Vincic, that Mexico - Ecuador wouldn't be a game for him.
Once again, I must say it's unacceptable if we think that such top referees, a name like Vincic, couldn't handle some games due to the nature of them. A very top referee must know exactly what he is about to do. Referees who reached the very top must pass very severe tests, otherwiser in my opinion they can't be judged the very top.
See the same Makkelie, Turpin, they experienced all kinds of games, they survived, so why Vincic to be treated in a different way?
Or maybe, should we say he is on a low level than others?
Same was discussed for Oliver, who has a certain style, but the English should also handle battles and not always easy and football focused games, otherwise, all can be elite referees, if not testes, or appointed just for "what they can do".
To conclude the analysis about the assignment, deserved for the Venezuelan referee as well, hope all is good for him after the terrible earthquake in his country. he had mostly easy games, but he was more linear than Sampaio in my opinion. Let's see which level he can reach.
I had to think of the Switzerland vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina match (officiated by João Pinheiro) and the fact that eight years ago Dr. Felix Brych handled the “comparable” fixture Serbia vs. Switzerland and, after heavy media criticism, was not used again. At the time, the German referees’ committee demonstratively stood united behind his performance. However, leading members also argued that you simply cannot appoint a referee of his calibre for such a match, because in a game like that you can only lose - and that, to put it bluntly, a more expendable “sacrificial lamb” should have been chosen instead.
DeleteI found that view rather peculiar even back then, because I would expect a referee with ambitions of being considered for a final to be able to take charge of any match. If Switzerland vs. a Balkan team is indeed regarded as inherently particularly challenging, then to me it would only be logical to appoint one of the most accomplished referees precisely for that kind of fixture.
The problem with Brych's appointment was not that he didn't have the calibre for a game like that, indeed he had been solving technically-difficult matches very well for the whole 2010s in UEFA/FIFA refereeing and was one of the best referees in the world, but the characteristically poor and distant management of the Busacca(/Collina) operation which allowed the nature of the match to be a surprise to the referee whom they had allocated the game.
DeleteVincic, as I wrote in April, is the leading referee in the world for technically-difficult matches and it is obvious that FIFA have an opinion similar to mine. Combined with the political factor that I spoke about yesterday, the three appmnts given to the Slovenian make complete sense (in my view!).
Some Round of 32 Predictions:
ReplyDeleteENG vs COD - Tejera
USA vs BIH - Abatti
BEL vs SEN - Ramos
POR vs CRO - Letexier
ESP vs AUT - Eskas
SUI vs ALG - Falcon
ARG vs CPV - Nyberg
COL vs GHA - Taylor
AUS vs EGY - Kovacs
Looks good. I just think, we will see at least one AFC referee (Makhadmeh and/or Al-Jassim) in this round, probably in ENG-COD or SUI-ALG.
DeleteBEL-SEN could also be Barton, but Ramos has one day more of rest, which could decide it for him.
I don't think, Kovacs will get another game, but rather Turpin or Zwayer used this round (with some rotation in games, so that they don't repeat AUS).
And in general, I wonder, whether 9/16 UEFA referees would be too much in this round.
Al-Jassim did England vs Panama, so I don’t think he would have England again so soon.
DeleteYes, I know. But Makhadmeh there or Al-Jassim in the Swiss game are possible.
DeletePhilipp S - you were right about Makhadmeh for England!
DeleteOT : After Stéphanie FRAPPART, it is now Benoît BASTIEN’s turn to hang up his whistle. At just 43 years old, and after 15 years refereeing in Ligue 1, he is set to become the new Director of the Professional Refereeing Department at the French Football Federation (FFF).
ReplyDeletePredictions
ReplyDeleteEngland - DR Congo:Tantashev
Belgium-Senegal:Abatti
USA -Bosna and Herzegovina:Tello
Very big appointment for Eskas, maybe the biggest game of his career so far
ReplyDeleteAlso means that his performance was highly rated
DeleteTrue, but I think it’s unfair that Pinheiro and Eskas only had to show one good performance in the group stage to qualify for the k.O. round while all other European referees must convince in two group stage games.
DeleteOr Kovacs that was ruled out for KO stage before the competition started
DeleteEngland vs. DR Congo - Makhadmeh/Alturais
ReplyDeleteUSA vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina - Claus/Herrera
Belgium vs. Senegal - Martinez/Rojas
Portugal vs. Croatia - Eskas/Tom
Spain vs. Austria - Nyberg/Beida
Switzerland vs. Algeria - Perez/Ortega
Suppouse after all of this that Letexier is saved for some Round of 16 potential hot clash.
ReplyDeleteLetexier can still get the big egos at Argentina Cape Verde
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLetexier officiated Cape Verde - Saudi Arabia on MD3.
DeleteIt'd be a scandal if he was assigned two CV games in a row.
Eskas if he officciate at same level of is first game, he will go to direct, minimum, to a semi-final game.
ReplyDeleteImpossible
DeleteHonestly, Eskås is probably the best referee in the world right now. His performances have been out of this world. Flawless, on a level we've never seen before.
DeleteI agree with you that there is some people in this blog that didnt understand what is officiatting. You must take care with your earth.
DeleteSo no penalty in ENG vs GHA game was accepted as correct
ReplyDeleteA scandalous appointment. If England hadn't been awarded that penalty, that referee would be packed up and sent home
DeleteSo no penalty in ENG vs GHA game was accepted as correct
ReplyDeleteA very interesting set of appointments has been released. Only the last three matches are missing, but we have many things to discuss.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I'm pleased for Said Martinez. Apart from the penalty incident in England match, I think he absolutely deserves this appearance in the knockout stage, and then we'll see whether he progresses even further or not.
Personally, regardless of whether you consider it a penalty or not, they simply couldn't overlook everything the Honduran referee had shown. I believe it was a penalty, and I also think the VAR should have intervened because the referee didn''t have a clear view of the incident. That said, it's certainly a very difficult situation.
About the Jordanian referee: appointment for KO stage could be a surprise, not because he doesn't deserve it, but because there were probably other names that could have come before him. I think FIFA viewed his wrongly awarded handball penalty as an understandable mistake. It was never a blunder, but rather a mistake that can be understood because, at full speed, it was possible to confuse it with the other arm, which would actually have been punishable. Other than that, he has never really performed poorly. In fact, I have to say that this match is something he has earned, at least in a way.
I also think this should lead us to say that, by the same standard, the Uzbek referee Tantashev is expected receive something a little more. Either he will be one of the remaining three appointments for the Round of 16, or he is about to go straight into the next round.
For some referees, the Round of 16 is almost an extension of the group stage. That's the case with the Brazilian referee Claus, who receives his second appointment. One could have assumed that his tournament would end after the group stage, but instead it continues. The same doesn't appear to be true for Dario Herrera, who has been appointed as fourth official. That probably means the (at least) yellow card he failed to issue was considered a very serious mistake because of the consequences for the opponent, and I agree with that assessment. Otherwise, the third Argentinian referee would likely have received a second match as well, just as happened with the Brazilians with three referees.
A great appointment as well for Nyberg, whom some have called the tournament's dark horse, and I could agree with that. However, he still needs to keep performing at a very high level. He is clearly rated more highly here in FIFA, and I also have to say that he has officiated better than he usually does in UEFA competitions, where I have often been critical of some of his performances, not because I enjoy criticizing him, but simply because I didn't think he was on the same level as some of the others. Here, however, he has been very good, and this appointment is absolutely deserved after his display in the group stage.
Then, Eskas. Excellent in his debut. I think FIFA made this decision of a second game for him entirely on the basis of that first performance. Before that, considering they had assigned him a match like Cape Verde and toward the end of the group stage, I don't think they necessarily expected him to make a great tournamentnt, but that's just speculation from my side.
As for Falcon, I haven't seen enough of him to really comment. In any case, I'm genuinely happy for everyone who has been appointed.
So for the 3 missed matches and for the 8 for the next round (before quarterfinal) we should have:
Delete- Tello (CONMEBOL)
- Turpin, Letexier, Oliver, Marchiniak (UEFA)
- Barton, Ramosm Elfath (CONCACAF)
- Tantashev, Faghani and El Jassim (AFC).
Reasonable analsysis. Personally, some doubts on Al Jassim, despite of rather OK / Good performances, don't know if they will send him to KO stage. It could be already enough what he managed to achieve.
DeleteBut in case Argentina - Cape Verde would be an option for him!
What about Taylor?
DeleteMartinez is OK as an invidual appointment, but I wonder, what that means for the other CONCACAF referees, because I would have considered four of them (including Fischer) before Martinez.
DeleteAlso, I think, BEL-SEN is one of the best games of the round, so I would have expected a bigger name there.
On antother note, it's good that FIFA gave the three direct R32 appointments to the best performers among the refs with one GS game.
The names look reasonable.
I wonder though, whether it would be a problem to have 4 CONCACAF, 4 AFC, but only 1 CAF in the KO stage.
Regarding the last point , I think meritocracy is fine. No Asian teams left except Australia. So most of them will be free from conflicts.
DeleteI expected a bigger name for BRA-JPN too but Mariani did handle it quite well
Thus far, FIFA has remained consistent in its apparent policy of assigning all intra-European fixtures exclusively to UEFA referees. While this approach could still be justified at the Round of 32 stage on the grounds that there are too few all-non-European encounters available for UEFA officials, the group stage presented ample opportunities to deviate from this practice on a much larger scale.
ReplyDeleteIn the three remaining fixtures, an African team will face an opponent from another confederation in each case, making it unlikely that we will see another CAF referee appointed. In theory, all of these matches could still be allocated to UEFA referees as well; however, such a scenario would appear equally improbable.
My predictions for Friday
ReplyDeleteAUS-EGY: Taylor
ARG-CPV: Zwayer
COL-GHA: Turpin
With the idea of Oliver for PORCRO-ESPAUT and Letexier for ARGCPV-AUSEGY in R16. And for Marciniak there should be a suitable game anyway with no specific restrictions for him.
That would be the hardcore approach: having UEFA referees take charge of every (!) Round-of-32 match that does not pit a European team against a non-European one.
DeleteYes, I have not predicted that before the R32, but as the options for such games might be limited in R16 (2 are guaranteed, 1 is currently on the edge...), I would use the chance now.
DeleteI think Tejera is a good option for AUS-EGY
DeleteEvaluation of saoud alathba referee anlyst of beinsport for joao pinheiro and mariani
ReplyDeleteJoao pinheiro : 8.4
Mariani : 8.4
I think Felix Zwayer will be a strong candidate for Canada-Morocco R16 tie
ReplyDeletepredictions
ReplyDeleteAUS-EGY: Tejera
ARG-CPV: Tantashev
COL-GHA: Taylor
Following the Netherlands' elimination, Makkelie has a good chance of officiating the final.
ReplyDeleteDon't see that happening unless he was ''promised' like what some were saying previously
DeleteWhy not? He’s certainly refereeing well enough and within the clear guidelines obviously set down by the bosses (whoever they are). And the OFR from his opening game looks to have been accepted.
DeleteHe's been getting easier games and isn't trusted with the bigger / contentious fixtures - most of his games are 1 way traffic.
DeleteSo it seems that remaining 3 matches and round 16 matches should go like this way:
ReplyDeleteFrom Europe : 6
South America :4
North America, Asia and Africa : 1
Remaining 3 matches: 1.Tantashev
2. Oliver/Taylor
3. Turpin/ Francois
Round 16
Europe
1. Marciniak(more or less good performance, neutral choice)
2. More likely Oliver( one of the best in recent time in europe) than Taylor.
3. Turpin or Francois (surely one of them will be appointed as due to France possibility to progress later stage).
South America
4. Tello( Both experienced are used and he is kept for R-16)
North America
5. Barton, two good matches, neutral choice (very good or excellent performance could send him further).
6. Ramos/Elfath (more likely Ramos after a below average performance by Elfath. But they can give Elfath as a home favourite and Ramos could represent in QF for North America)
Asia
7. Faghani is the only choice but one main concern is fitness.
Africa
None.
So the remaining spot could be for Abatti or Zwayer.
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ReplyDeleteWhat about Egyptian referee Amin Omar ?
ReplyDeleteAl Marri appointed for Makhadmeh as first game after ARG-AUT (after missing MD3, especially Al-Jassim's game there). So he is at least not completely rejected.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the World Cup, I’ve done my best to assess referee performances and compile a ranking of the top officials based on their average scores. This has been challenging for matches I wasn’t able to watch, especially where limited commentary was available. Below is the list of the highest‑rated referees so far in the tournament. Anthony Taylor (England)
ReplyDeleteClément Turpin (France)
Michael Oliver (England)
Jesús Valenzuela (Venezuela)
Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
István Kovács (Romania)
François Letexier (France)
Espen Eskås (Norway)
Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)
Drew Fischer (Canada)
Saíd Martínez (Honduras)
Katia Itzel García (Mexico)
Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)
Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
Gustavo Tejera (Uruguay)
Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)
Facundo Tello (Argentina)
César Arturo Ramos (Mexico)
Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)
Ma Ning (China)
Iván Barton (El Salvador)
Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
João Pinheiro (Portugal)
Yael Falcón (Argentina)
Dahane Beida (Mauritania)
Juan Gabriel Benítez (Paraguay)
Felix Zwayer (Germany)
Pierre Atcho (Gabon)
Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Tori Penso (United States)
Amin Mohamed Omar (Egypt)
Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)
Alireza Faghani (Australia)
Ismail Elfath (United States)
Ramon Abatti (Brazil)
Jalal Jayed (Morocco)
Darío Herrera (Argentina)
Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)
Alejandro Hernández Hernández (Spain)
Khalid Al-Turais (Saudi Arabia)
Cristián Garay (Chile)
You alright ?
Delete+1 Taylor has surprised a lot of people with his overall performances but no me ,He is top class though underrated by many and with UEFA biased politics he was sidelined in the end imo FIFA is the better compared to UEFA
Delete@sarish with Taylor at the top I was surprised but his first performance seemed to be extremely good and his second one there was very little comments on the performance so he got high marks
DeleteIt's also based on an average mark Valenzuela was at the top before his 3rd match where he lost a point or 2
Prediction:
ReplyDelete- Australia vs Egypt : Gustavo Tejera (URU)
- Argentina vs Cape Verde: Clément Turpin (FRA)
- Colombia vs Ghana: Michael Oliver (ENG)
R16
- Canada vs Morocco: Felix Zwayer (GER)
- Paraguay vs France: Ismail Elfath (USA)
- Brazil vs Norway: Ilgiz Tantashev (UZB)
I think, that game is too small for Turpin and he should be saved for Argentina games in the following rounds.
DeleteThe rest looks good to me.
Mine are
- Australia vs Egypt : Taylor
- Argentina vs Cape Verde: Elfath
- Colombia vs Ghana: Turpin
R16
- Canada vs Morocco: Zwayer
- Paraguay vs France: Al-Jassim
- Brazil vs Norway: Fischer
You could argue, the game is also "too small" for Elfath, but after his last performance, I think, this is an adequate game, which gives him the opportunity to recover his chances for the last 8 games.
Also they probably want to keep a very strong referee for a potential Portugal Spain in ro16
DeleteDo we know when the first referees to leave the competition will be announce ?
ReplyDeleteMatch #86
ReplyDeleteRound of 32
4 July 2026, 00:00 CET
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens
ARGENTINA - CAPE VERDE
Referee: Drew Fischer CAN
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Barwegen CAN
Assistant Referee 2: Lyes Arfa CAN
Fourth Official: Katia Garcia MEX
Reserve AR : Sandra Ramirez MEX
Video Assistant Referee:
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Match #87
Round of 32
4 July 2026, 03:30 CET
Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City
COLOMBIA - GHANA
Referee: Clement Turpin FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Benjamin Pages FRA
Fourth Official: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández ESP
Reserve AR : José Enrique Naranjo Pérez ESP
Video Assistant Referee:
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Match #88
Round of 32
3 July 2026, 20:00 CET
AT&T Stadium, Arlington
AUSTRALIA - EGYPT
Referee: Gustavo Tejera URU
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Barreiro URU
Assistant Referee 2: Nicolas Taran URU
Fourth Official: Sandro Scharer SUI
Reserve AR : Stephane De Almeida SUI
Video Assistant Referee:
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
As it was expected, Letexier saved for probably some potential hot match if happened Portugal Spain, or Mexico England.
ReplyDeleteDR Congo vs Mexico you mean? 😉
ReplyDeleteBecouse of that I said if happened :))
DeleteI was very curious about ARG - CPV, so in the end this game is given to Canadian referee, to allow him to officiate in KO stage (maybe this was rather unexpected). So the factor that he is from a host nation can explain this choice. In case of good performance, he could even get more, but still unclear how much good he can be, based on previous games, not that much demanding.
ReplyDeleteTurpin with a nice CONMEBOL - AFC clash, while Tejera assignment follows the criterion of using R32 for allowing a referee to get his second game.
At this point, with full assignments for R32 out, and the confederation criterion still in use, it is more difficult to think that they can change from R16 onwards.
I actually rate Drew Fischer very highly Alongside Ramos and Barton, I think he is one of the leading Concacaf referees. He’s been consistently excellent in MLS and has won MLS Referee of the Year for the last two seasons, which says a lot about the level of his performances.
DeleteAs you said he was given two relatively straightforward matches, but he handled both well, so I think he deserved at least one or two knockout stage
I also like his refereeing style. It’s similar to many UEFA referees
Support Referee statistics:
ReplyDeleteSchaerer (8): New York ×2 → Philadelphia ×3 → New York ×1 → Houston ×1 → Dallas ×1
Ortega (7): Vancouver ×1 → Seattle ×1 → Vancouver ×5
Al-Turais (7): Toronto ×1 → Philadelphia ×1 → Toronto ×4 → Atlanta ×1
Tom (6): Houston ×5 → Toronto ×1
Calderón (6): Guadalajara ×1 → Monterrey ×1 → Mexico City ×1 → Monterrey ×1 → Guadalajara ×2
Yusuke Araki (6): Los Angeles ×4 → Seattle ×2
Kawana-Waugh (6): Kansas City ×1 → Atlanta ×1 → Kansas City ×1 → New York ×2 → Philadelphia ×1
Rojas (5): Atlanta ×1 → Guadalajara ×1 → Atlanta ×1 → Monterrey ×1 → Seattle ×1
Nation (5): San Francisco ×5
García (5) (not really ‘support’ but has many 4O appointments): Dallas ×2 → Seattle ×1 → Kansas City ×1 → Miami ×1
I wish I were Scharer. He just held up the substitution board and traveled all over Usa
DeleteInteresting that Schärer got 2 games in R32, while Araki, Calderon, Nation and Kawana aren't used in this round.
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ReplyDeleteSo we should consider 1/8 and 1/4 together.
ReplyDeleteFor 1/8 the possible name are:
Tello (Conmebol), Letexier, Oliver and Marchiniak (Uefa), Barton, Elfath and Ramos (Concacaf), Faghani, Tantashev (and maybe Al Jassim) (Afc). One of them he will go directly to 1/4.
I suppose no more match for Zwayer and Taylor, pretty sure for Kovacs.
1/8 Elfath and you suppose no more match for Felix 😂😂
DeleteTaylor and Zwayer are on round of 16 it's clear to me
ReplyDeleteI think Zwayer will get a Round of 16 match—Canada vs. Morocco
DeletePredictions:
ReplyDeleteCanada-Morocco Oliver
France-Paraguay Tantashev
Brazil-Norway Barton
Mexico-England Tello
Mine are
DeleteCanada-Morocco: Zwayer - Mariani - Dankert, Higler, Gillett
France-Paraguay: Mohamed - Faghani - Villareal, Miranda, Dickerson
Brazil-Norway: Al-Jassim - Jayed - Al-Marri, Obaid, Evans
Mexico-England: Tantashev - Atcho - Gonzalez, El-Fariq, Fu
- Brazil vs Norway: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
Delete- Mexico vs England: Facundo Tello (ARG)
- United States vs Belgium: Alireza Faghani (AUS)
I feel they won't give Faghani a US match for his own protection if nothing else
DeleteOliver is in action at QF round I will be surprised to see his name appearing unless he doing both R16/QF saving best for last
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned, we cannot exclude the direct appointment to QF.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, one of concacaf referees (ELFATH, BARTON, RAMOS) will not serve as a referee any longer in this tournament. All of them performs below expected in their second match while they don’t make huge error. In my opinion, ELFATH is the man rejected.
The candidates for this should be two men already FIFA final: Marciniak and Faghani.
(prediction)
R16:
CAN-MAR: ZWAYER,
PAR-FRA: RAMOS,
BRA-NOR: BARTON,
MEX-ENG: FAGHANI,
USA-BEL: TELLO,
POR/CRO-ESP/AUT: OLIVER,
ARG/CPV-AUS/EGY: LETEXIER,
SWI/ALG-COL/GHA: TANTASHEV
QF/SF:
MARCINIAK,
2 from MARIANI / VINCIC / MAKKELIE / TURPIN,
SAMPAIO
VALENZUELA
1 from MAKHADMEH / FISCHER
this: direct QF
DeleteR16 predictions
ReplyDeleteCAN-MAR: MARIANI
PAR-FRA: RAMOS
BRA-NOR: BARTON
MEX-ENG: FAGHANI
USA-BEL: TELLO
POR/CRO-ESP/AUT: OLIVER
ARG/CPV-AUS/EGY: LETEXIER
SWI/ALG-COL/GHA: MARCINIAK
You'd have Mariani officiating a R32 and R16 - hmmm
DeleteNot impossible though, considering his performance and nationality. If Collina wanna give Mariani a ‘reward’, R16 would be the most proper. QF might be too much.
DeletePredictions
ReplyDeleteCanada-Morocco: Zwayer
France-Paraguay: Ramos
R16 predictions:
ReplyDeleteCAN-MAR: Oliver
PAR-FRA: Ramos
BRA-NOR: Barton
MEX-ENG: Faghani
USA-BEL: Tello
POR/CRO-ESP/AUT: Letexier
ARG/CPV-AUS/EGY: Elfath
SWI/ALG-COL/GHA: Tantashev
It might be 4 QFs with one UEFA team each; e.g. FRA-MAR, ESP-USA, BRA-ENG and ARG-SUI. What do you guys think; will UEFA referees be selected for QF in such a scenario?
ReplyDeleteId say they'll abandon the neutrality for the QF like how they done in Qatar with Lahoz and Oliver
DeleteIn such cases, FIFA would undoubtedly violate the unwritten Confederation Neutrality Rule, as it has done on numerous occasions in previous World Cups:
Delete2022
Croatia vs. Brazil: Michael Oliver (England)
Netherlands vs. Argentina: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
2018
Brazil vs. Belgium: Milorad Mažić (Serbia)
2014
Argentina vs. Belgium: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)
It was also in 2014 round of 16 Argetina-Swiss- Eriksson, Netherlands-Mexico- Proenca.
DeleteI also vividly remember that the 1934 Round of 16 match between Sweden and Argentina was officiated by the Austrian referee Eugen Braun.
Deletethank you all for intersteting insights. this is what makes this blog great.
DeleteHow old are you to vividly remember 1934 :)
DeleteI think we should distinguish between the pre-Havelange era and the years since he came to power. Till the 1980s clear dominance of European referees. Since then, a variety of nominations with no real emphasis on Confederations' identities, especially from Semi-Final on. 2002 was the sole example of leaning on three European referees in the final stages.
DeleteMatch #89
ReplyDeleteRound of 16
4 July 2026, 13:00 EDT
Houston Stadium
CANADA - MOROCCO
Referee: Michael Oliver ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt ENG
Assistant Referee 2: James Mainwaring ENG
Fourth Official: Danny Makkelie NED
Reserve Assistant Referee: Hessel Steegstra NED
Match #90
Round of 16
4 July 2026, 17:00 EDT
Philadelphia Stadium
PARAGUAY - FRANCE
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev UZB
Assistant Referee 1: Andrey Tsapenko UZB
Assistant Referee 2: Timur Gavnullin UZB
Fourth Official: Abdulrahman Al Jassim QAT
Reserve Assistant Referee: Taleb Almarri QAT
Confirmed or predictions
DeleteConfirmed
Delete