American referee of Moroccan descent Ismail Elfath has been appointed to officiate the historic FIFA World Cup semifinal between England and Argentina, to be played on home soil in the United States. It is one of the most iconic matches the World Cup can offer.
Match #102
Semifinals
15 July 2026, 21:00 CET
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
ENGLAND - ARGENTINA
Referee: Ismail Elfath USA
Assistant Referee 1: Corey Parker USA
Assistant Referee 2: Kyle Atkins USA
Fourth Official: Maurizio Mariani ITA
Reserve AR: Daniele Bindoni ITA
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Di Bello ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Juan Lara CHI
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Tatiana Guzman NCA
Standby Video Assistant Referee: : Armando Villarreal USA
Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Joe Dickerrson USA
Good luck to Elfath! Hope that he will be top!
ReplyDeleteGood luck but…very difficult moutain in front of US referee…
ReplyDeleteI fear the worst. My thoughts are with the really good refs who are sitting in the Team One base camp and watch this match on TV.
ReplyDeleteOr out of the training base 😂
DeleteI still remember the disastrous performance of his fellow American, Geiger, in England - Colombia. With that, the bar is set very low, but I do fear we could see something similar today. I would love to be proven wrong, though, and wish the very best of luck to Elfath!
ReplyDeleteAlready heated by the hymns and a ref who based on performance principle should not be there, good luck
ReplyDeleteI really dont see this ending well
ReplyDeleteThe worst appointment of this World Cup. A referee who lost control of Spain-Uruguay and missed a clear penalty in Brazil-Norway has been appointed to a World Cup semi-final. Either Collina is not independent, or he punished UEFA referees on purpose. Previous performance has become totally irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteMissed YC on Paredes. Unacceptable gesture.
ReplyDeleteOnly 3 minutes to understand how it’ll go tonight…
ReplyDeleteLet me guess, referees fault???
DeleteIf the players are acting like this in the 3rd minute, its not his fault. They are being idiots, blame them for it
Here we go
ReplyDeleteThis will be fun
ReplyDeleteGame ended in 3 minutes 😘😘😘
ReplyDeleteMissed Violent Conduct in 3rd minute.
ReplyDeleteAnd another missed YC (orange?)
ReplyDelete3 minutes! Now thats impressive how quickly hes lost control!
ReplyDeleteSorry but 3 mn and Elfath is already lost. Hand forgotten for Argentina and harsh foul by Fernandez again with just a warning. Not able to be courageous. What a pity…
ReplyDeleteThat‘s a red card, he just punched him in the back of the head are you kidding me?
ReplyDeleteWe're in for a very intense match. I have a feeling El Fath will lose control of the game if he continues to be this lenient.
ReplyDeleteWe will see a very ugly match… Hope Elfath is able to minimise the ugly scenes.
ReplyDeleteWow you can feel the tension in the air
ReplyDeleteHoping for the best
No dark arts tonight I guess
Btw good by the ref
Missed his chance to take a strong stance right away. Now everyone will think they have a free hit before any YC
ReplyDelete