Michael Oliver will oversee another full European clash, as he is in charge of 2026 FIFA World Cup Quarterfinal Spain - Belgium.
Match #98
Quarterfinals
10 July 2026, 21:00 CET
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood
SPAIN - BELGIUM
Referee: Michael Oliver ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt ENG
Assistant Referee 2: James Mainwaring ENG
Fourth Official: Ramon Abatti BRA
Reserve AR: Rafael Alves BRA
Video Assistant Referee: Jarred Gillett ENG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Ivan Bebek CRO
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Joe Dickerson USA
Standby Video Assistant Referee: Mahmoud Ashour EGY
Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Antonio Garcia URU
Good luck to Michael Oliver
ReplyDeleteOT: I saw that Collina and Busaca told referees to issue yellow card only when is 100 percent situation. If that was the case through all tournament, Ismail Elfath is tottaly winner!
Statement of Condolence
ReplyDeleteWe mourn the passing of experienced Georgian international assistant referee Zaza Pipia.
Listed on the FIFA international panel since 2009, his career included appointments to the UEFA Champions League group stage—a significant achievement that reflects his major contribution to Georgian refereeing. May he rest in peace.
RIP
DeleteGood luck to Oliver and congratulations to him, he now holds the record of officiating many WC games by an English ref (7 games)
ReplyDeleteYes best of luck and well deserved for a good tournament with good performances throughout.
DeleteTwo teams where respect his high and for the referee too. Looking forward to a strong technical performance from Oliver today.
Hi Chefren. In your post, why do you mention Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 where as the broadcast mentions Support Video Assistant Referee (Joe Dickerson for Spain-Belgium).
ReplyDeleteAnd the broadcast does not mention
Standby Video Assistant Referee: Mahmoud Ashour EGY
Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Antonio Garcia URU
Easy call on non punishable handball by Oliver and VAR. Good one.
ReplyDeleteClip: https://streamable.com/qhqj1i
DeleteGood no penalty decision. Hand was in natural position, didn't make body unnaturally bigger and shot was from very short proximity
ReplyDeletePhantom foul against Belgium in Spain Penalty area. Little surprising whistle for an english referee.
ReplyDeleteI’d say excellent recognition of ESP#19 voluntarily diving over BEL#5 in the run-up to that foul.
DeletePlease explain what you mean.
DeleteOliver is so funny :D
ReplyDeleteWas he supposed to stop the game here since it wasn't the ball that hit him but offensive player?
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the rules say but I think he handled it with common sense.
DeleteYes, technically he wasn’t supposed to stop the play but in the spirit of the drop ball law & losing possession.
DeleteNot sure what he was supposed to do there, just unfortunate and trying to get out of the path of the ball not recognizing a player was behind him
Oliver, Oliver. What a mess that collision with Olmo was. Hahaha.
ReplyDeleteYour hatred of the English is so boring ,if you cant be constructive dont bother
DeleteWhy the anger, man? Stop making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s just a fun moment at Oliver e Olmo. Shake off that bad mood.
DeleteThat goal looked offside..
ReplyDeleteReplay 3D Clip:
Deletehttps://streamable.com/qaks91
Which part looked offside?
Delete35' Clip: https://streamable.com/8erfhe
ReplyDeleteYC 43' Clip: https://streamable.com/3dnxwi
DeleteMichael Oliver deserved a yellow card.. :)))
ReplyDeleteGood first YC. Obvious SPA
ReplyDeleteNow great yc shown, probably Collina is furios😉
ReplyDeleteI think Referee Committee will be happy because there was no intention to play the ball. I do know that there was some sarcasm in the comment but if you see how he let the first two incidents of possible SPA by BEL, then you understand why this was given.
DeleteCorrect YC but miss judge situation as he is signaling handball which did not happened.
ReplyDeleteYes he signaled the YC for his hand, but was he signaling a handball or was he signaling that he clearly moved his arm out? No intention to play the ball fairly & used his arm to attempt to play the ball (which then made contact causing the foul). Despite all that, you could still say SPA
DeleteGood YC to Cubarsi (Spain). Clear pulling and unfair attitude.
ReplyDeleteGood first YC
ReplyDeleteOliver is not joking around
100% YC for 22
ReplyDeleteVery good first half for Oliver.
ReplyDeleteHalf time, very good performance from the English crew Oliver and company
ReplyDeleteIt was a clean performance neat and tidy, at times even flawless.
Second half promises a great match to watch, let's see how Oliver will handle it
Great to see two teams who want to play positive football. Mr Oliver can focus on his work without worrying about dark arts. He is calm and in complete control. Very very good refereeing so far from the Englishman.
ReplyDeleteGood officiating by Oliver in easy football focused first half.
ReplyDeleteOliver received four games at this tournament and three of them have been games between two UEFA teams. Is that just a random coincidence or is there a reason behind of it?
ReplyDeleteFrance vs Norway
Netherlands vs Sweden
Spain vs Belgium
Well it's more likely for him since the all-UEFA games have all been refereed by UEFA refs, and for the Ned v Swe game he was supposed to do Ivory Coast v Ecuador but was injured.
DeleteHe is also the best referee for these kindoff matches. Football focused. He is well respected in Europe. I am not sure Oliver would be suited for a team like Paraguay (see Mersyside derby from last or one before last season).
DeleteIf England doesn't reach the final, it is highly likely that Oliver will be the referee for the final.
ReplyDeleteArgentinia also can't be in the finale for Oliver to be appointed (Falkland situation). Not sure if them in SF make it impossible to.
DeleteNever with Argentina.
DeleteEver understand why. Elizondo refereed England in 2006 and sent off Rooney. And Tello refereed Scotlsnd (UK) in Euro24. So why couldn’t Oliver referee Argentina? It surely can’t just be one way? In fact, the sooner it happens, the better - should’ve long ago happened just to stop the nonsense.
DeleteShould be a YC for Lamal but we know why no card either.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteYes we all know but I’d also mention that it has been consistent with his approach this match. Earlier in the match, two situations from BEL on SPA which could have been YC for SPA but Oliver showed no card. For me, he is just being consistent.
DeleteMy only issue here is that I’d like some player management here as opposed to just letting it go.
Good no penalty for handball, comes from teammate.
ReplyDeleteClip: https://streamable.com/jqb0ww
DeleteThank you for all the clips!!!
DeleteYeah, this is solvable live for us.
Delete@RAPenjoyer its my pleasure
DeleteYes. Thank you for the clips.
DeleteExcellent position from Oliver to see live and referee committee happy to see correct decision on field.
Again good no penalty. Same situation as in first half except now ball came from teammate
ReplyDeleteHum hum. Very difficult handball situation. VAR said no. I m not convinced at 100 % by the gesture of Spain defensor.
ReplyDeleteCome on, no handball!
DeleteThere is no mention in LOTG by this law change however Mark Clattenburg mentions on commentary the law change at the start of last year where a ball played off a team mate from a short distance and hitting the hand is not a handball. No reference in LOTG but in IFAB’s LOTG made simple a reference: https://www.footballrules.com/offences-sanctions/handball/
DeleteSo correct decision, on field and correct non-VAR intervention.
penalty to belgium, hand was away from his body
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely not. Unexpected ball from teammate.
DeleteThat looked handball imo he controlled the ball with the arm and perhaps with a English VAR no surprise, check over
ReplyDeleteBall from his teammate!!!!@
DeleteHe was in the air and the ball is headed unexpectedly at his upper arm, c'mon be real.
Deletethat is a myth of a law! I can't play handball just because it came from my teammate
DeleteIts the rules if it comes from your own player. Shame you dont know them
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThey took that away, no longer in the rules as it should never have been
DeleteThe considerations applied are still the same even if they removed the text from the laws.
DeleteSimulation missed, free kick given to Belgium for foul with no contact.
ReplyDeleteVery very soft foul for Doku but I m very annoying with the absolutely zero reaction in front of blatant dissent by Oliver.
ReplyDeleteMore a dive either…
DeleteI commended Oliver for recognizing the voluntary fall in 18’, but here he missed a clear simulation by BEL#11 indeed.
DeleteClip: https://streamable.com/42m5u0
DeleteAgree here, the issue for me is the inconsistency. Hard to have a high bar for fouls when you give soft free kicks like this,
DeleteCorrect no pk. Unexpected ball according to guidelines. Disagree all you want.
ReplyDeleteNobody says anything. you are strong Eric!!
DeleteRead again the comments
DeleteThis is definitely not his typical foul threshold… Very soft fouls
ReplyDeleteTwo very soft fouls on Doku
ReplyDelete79' Clip: https://streamable.com/q9w57q
DeleteAgree, this inconsistency will hurt his overall performance mark. The frustration by the Spanish is understandable especially after their game against URU. I know every two games aren’t the same, but it isn’t in keeping with the level we have expected this tournament.
DeleteVery soft fouls however he is being consistent which is what matters!
ReplyDeletePlease A16, there is tactic also in refereeing!!
ReplyDeleteI never said there was anything wrong with his decisions!
DeleteAfter Canada vs Morocco, it is again not his best performance. He awards too many soft and phantom fouls, which slows down the pace of the game and reduces its entertainment value. Nothing major, of course, but also not at the level expected for a World Cup quarter-final.
ReplyDeleteFaulth finder!
DeleteIt’s not about finding faults. It’s about having an unbiased view and analysing performance. This is a World Cup, the absolute pinnacle of world football and every decision is analysed, every decision looked at in terms of the match and refereeing across the entire World Cup.
DeleteAs assessor’s or observer’s, it’s our role and only natural to bring it to a blog where referee’s talk about performance of a referee in matches.
I think Oliver is having a lower threshold on fouls in Doku on purpose (for match control purposes). After what happend in I think BEL-EGY. Where Doku was really selected out to foul.
ReplyDeleteTell me though, has the game really been bubbling over? Has anything in this match suggested that he needed to lower his foul threshold to get control of the match or players are losing control?
DeleteYC 85' Clip: https://streamable.com/b8syn0
ReplyDeleteYC 90+3' Clip: https://streamable.com/l00tj0
DeleteTwo good yellow cards here, one I would say reckless challenge and the other being SPA. Correctly called by Oliver.
DeleteNo matter what Oliver does for the last few minutes he can know he will not make the biggest error of the game! Oh dear Lammens!
ReplyDeleteGood overall by oliver.. respected and good refereeing
ReplyDeleteFrance vs Spain has to be Szymon Marciniak
ReplyDeleteI agree
Delete100%
DeleteOliver and Turpin both unlucky with the success of their national sides during the peaks of their careers.
ReplyDeleteIn champions league, Witsel foul can easily be an OFR and a Red card….
ReplyDeleteNever. No force.
DeleteDid he give a caution? I only saw the replay
DeleteVery clear and crystal RC. I don’t understand how VAR didn’t call Oliver
DeleteYes
DeleteYes YC. On others conditions and competitions, red one for me.
DeleteIt’s glancing with the toe. Force and mode of contact never high enough for red.
Delete@RefereeAnalyst just remember the types of decisions we have seen during this World Cup. Yes, in UEFA competitions different but at this World Cup, it is correct in keeping with the directives to referees.
DeleteAgree that’s what I said :)
Delete+ 1 with you, Referee Analyst. An “orange” card to be named, but here YC supportable.
DeleteGood yellow card decision, not necessary for OFR at this stage
ReplyDeleteAgreed
DeleteI have to disagree here. This for me just highlights the inconsistency of decision making. It is very difficult to call soft fouls during the match and then a tackle like this to “just” give a yellow card. You could understand if he kept the foul bar high.
DeleteI agree, that it is in keeping with what we have seen during the tournament, we know the referee committee don’t want cards, don’t want soft penalties and want referees to keep a high foul bar to see more football being played. They don’t want to see an OFR or a red card in this situation.
Excellent tournament from Oliver. 4 matches officiated to a high level. We can nitpick on certain things but on the whole very good. Shame that he's locked out of the final because England and Argentina because he'd be a top candidate
ReplyDeleteIs a bit Björn Kuipers situation in WC2014, where NED were in SF, while he was clearly the finale candiate
Delete+1000 agree with you
DeleteIn Kuiper’s case, there was a little bit of hype …. Plenty of good referees. Yes, including him, but definitely wasn’t the pencilled in final candidate.
DeleteYC 90+5' Clip: https://streamable.com/mw2kwx
ReplyDeleteGood performance by Team Oliver. Very calm and confident. A pity he didn't recognize the dive by Doku (not his first at this WC by the way...), but otherwise without problems.
ReplyDeleteWell,good Oliver, that should be it. Even England go through or not. Early prediction- France Spain: Marciniak
ReplyDeleteOverall very good Oliver with an low bar and soft questionnable fouls awarded but in general excellent performance with 4 YC all deserved and a very alert management of the match. He could argue for more if England is eliminated by Norway.
ReplyDeleteOliver may have one more World Cup in him in 2030 Hopefully, he goes further than the quarterfinals next time. Assuming this is his last world cup for now
ReplyDelete+100
DeleteHe will 100% be at the next one
DeleteHow can some of you predict Marciniak for Spain-France? Did you forget how furious France was after the final in Qatar? Impossible to referee France in such an important match again.
ReplyDeleteI think Sampiao gets ESP/FRA. Marciniak gets the other one.
DeleteFrance Furious about what, them getting two penalties?
DeleteAssuming the other semifinal is Argentina vs England, Marciniak should not be an option either. He already refereed Argentina controversial opening match involving Messi red card and he also handled the 2022 final that Argentina won. It would be better to keep them separated this time.
We have Semi and final games these referees possible.
Ramos, Marciniak, Sampaio and Afghani
If Argentina, very difficult to give the SF to Marciniak after what happened in MD1.
DeleteFaghani not Afghani I usually don't mind typos but this is clearly disrespectful
DeleteOne question, if Spain eliminate France, does that increase chance of Turpin/Letexier for final?
ReplyDeleteNeither Turpin or Letexier are realistic options
DeleteTurpin is refereeing his 4 game tomorrow, which is probably the maximum FIFA gives a referee at one World Cup, so I think he's out of the running.
As for Letexier, he's only 37 and already refereed Euro final involving Spain and After all the noise surrounding his last World Cup game, I think it's better for him not to receive any more appointments in this tournament, even the third place game.
Normally, once your home team reached SF you get sent home. No finale, 3rd place game or 4th official duties. Also not other SF game
DeleteAs
DeleteMuch as Oliver’s performance was top
Class I don’t think we will see any of the 1/4 final referees on field again. The officials towards the final will have been mapped out and we may see a shocker appear in a home referee for the final given infantinos meddling in the tournament sonfar
@Mr.W agree with that but the EURO 2024 is the opposite, France got eliminated in SF and Letexier got the final. So for me nothing is over for the french or english.
DeleteOk,thanks for answers up there. My question about final is next: Faghani?
ReplyDeletePolitically I have my doubts about an iranien refereeing the biggest football match in de USA, even if it would be a beautiful signal.
DeleteI doubt it will me an UEFA referee because of Marciniak, therefore I would bet on one of Barton, Ramos. Sampaio, Elfath or Fisher.
I would love to see Makkelie in that game though.
@Cassius: what part of Faghani doing the last CWC Final at MetLife did you forget? I’m sorry but I’m so (!) tired of people saying things about his Iranian affairs…He is completely an option for that upcoming game on the 19th…We all know that…So C’mon !
DeletePersonally I don't see how a war 40 years ago should affect referee appointments. Scotland had an Argentine referee during Euro 2024
ReplyDeleteWonder if they may go against the usual rule and keep them, even though their teams are there, as it’s an unusual situation. The French and English pairs have been excellent, so if either are out, they have the option? If not, Faghani, Makhadmeh and Barton? Elfath should be long out and I’m not as keen on Sampaio, but imagine Conmebol will politically have to have something?
ReplyDeleteI’m guessing they had Penso in mind for the third place match but she got burned. I’m guessing they want to try to keep Elfath or Fischer for the third place match (but performance might mean both can’t do it)
DeleteWell done Oliver and his team on a good performance. I did think he did well but I think he doesn’t deserve “top performance” or “very good”.
ReplyDeleteOn the positive aspects of his performance. You have to say his fitness and positioning was excellent. His ability to get in to good positions, the ability to sprint and be in the best position to make all the correct calls must be recognised. High Level. All his KMI’s were correct. In terms of managing the match, you feel he did well but you have to say that his experience with these two teams and players in the EPL help. In terms of his disciplinary action, all decisions kept in line from the committee’s directives and the “FIFA philosophy” with both the no cards in the first half and cards in the second. I was happy with YC in additional time because it was in keeping with the World Cup but had it been in other competitions would have been a RC. In terms of optics too, this makes the committee happy too.
In terms of aspects that bring down his mark. You have say that it wasn’t a difficult game, in terms of KMI’s, in terms of managing players or benches and two teams just want to play football. Not one of the more difficult matches. Player management was not so great for me, he could have used a number of situations to speak to players (potential Spanish SPA incident in second half or the frustration of players around inconsistency of foul detection). For me the inconsistency in foul detection hurt his overall mark, soft fouls in the second half is not keeping with his foul detection through the tournament or even his matches. For me to give the soft fouls during the second half but then only give a YC for the challenge at 90+5 is not consistent.
Overall everyone should be happy, Oliver, his team, the committee and FIFA. You can tell Collina and Busacca have big trust in him but unfortunately with England progressing it makes it hard to see him having another game during the 2026 World Cup.
It is absolutely nonsensical to not show YC to fouls that very clearly stop a promising attack. If we allow these tactical fouls to always go unpunished we are contributing to the game having less goals, and less spectacle, and less flow, and that's the opposite of what FIFA claims to want.
DeleteI agree with you, no sense to ignore the YC. But if one of the key players of the tournament were to get two yellow cards and then missed a World Cup final it would be worse than less spectacle and less flow. There were very few incidents during the game of it too
DeleteIn other competitions then it makes complete sense however in this World Cup we have seen incidents such as these not punished and we know that there has been a directive to issue less yellow cards. It may have also been a case that he didn’t punish two potential cases of SPA in the first half that he decided to even it up? Maybe.
That's not on the referees. The regulators should change the rules and end the suspension after two YC. Make it three, remove it completely, I don't know. This World Cup has encouraged tactical fouls to stop promising attacks, dissent towards the referee, destroying the penalty mark, standing too close to corners being taken, switching between throw-in and free kick takers and diving (I might be forgetting others) since it refuses to YC any of these behaviours.
DeleteAlso, star treatment is disgusting, let's leave that in the NBA.
I think the issue here is that IFAB make the LOTG but it is FIFA’s World Cup. They are supposed to be using the LOTG but want to use their own directives to referees.
DeleteIronically they can adjust the number of yellow cards before suspension (tournament rules) but not the LOTG. Yes the penalty mark destroying and removing shirt for goal celebrations has been ignored in favor of minimizing yellow cards. Don’t forget the amazing line by Collina who said that dissent has improved because only two YC’s had been shown for dissent (which is contrary to what we have seen, they just aren’t clamping down on it). Agree with you on these points, it penalizes the teams wanting to play football.
I disagree on star treatment. I don’t see any special treatment to stars, referees aren’t just looking at Messi or Lamal and saying “can’t card him”. It’s a blanket rule.
Oliver completely changed his threshold for YC from his previous match to this one. He didn't show stonewall yellow cards to Doku in the 1st half and Yamal in the 2nd half. Yamal's was particularly egregious. Gave the star treatment to the star players. Gave a lot of soft fouls. Collided with players in an unreasonable situation.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, he had the game controlled but this was an easy game, and there were clear mistakes.
I don’t see it as star treatment. They are following directives. Did you see the twitter post from arbitiro Internationale? Agree with you that Oliver lacked consistency with his foul detection during the match and disciplinary action especially compared to previous matches (although maybe due to new directives?)
DeleteExcellent performance by the referees in both quarter finals
ReplyDeleteIs Michael Oliver a great referee? No. Is Michael Oliver a good referee? No. Is Michael Oliver a solid referee? Maybe. Michael Oliver is a referee, who wants to control the game by whistling for every little contact. Is that ridiculous? Maybe, but that is his style. And in this game he did what he is always doing - whistling for every little contact.
ReplyDeleteOf course, purely subjective, but I think you're a bit too critical. Oliver is an old-school referee, which means that he doesn't want to attract attention and is very good at it compared to many or even most other referees. And if you consider that, especially in some other games, too few fouls were whistled then this style can bei welcomed.
DeleteFor comparison, he didn't lose control, the players were satisfied with his decisions, he avoided critical situations preventively, his decisions were predictable, the match felt pretty much enjoyable.
Wow, this blog surprises me every time. I saw an Oliver that was consistent, always in control, without any big error and most importantly: he didn't constantly draw attention to him. No one is talking about the referee after this game.
ReplyDeleteBut still, some quite critical comments on here, while everyone celebrates Barton, a referee who is just there to pull the camera's towards him and is always the most striking person on the pitch, like the good actor he is.
So, is a referee only good if everyone knows who is after the game?
I think, the critic on Oliver focusses on the soft or wrong foul decisions during this game, which seemed too many for this and his level. This doesn't mean, he had a bad game, just that it wasn't as good as some of his previous ones.
DeleteOn the Barton match thread, you can also find negative comments by the way.
Michael Oliver is currently [in my humble opinion] the BEST referee in World football.
ReplyDeleteHis performances are always good and this is because he undersstands and reads thhe game.
HIs fitness and positional sense can never be questionned.and i cannot recall when he gave a decision and he was not close to the play. That is why he commands the respect of the players in every game he officiates at.
it would be a sin if he is not considered and then appointed for the FINAL [EXCEPT ENGLAND]. The posssible Argentina reason because of the Falklands war is ludicrous as it took place ijn 1982 [44 years ago].
Michael whatever your future holds and you have always beren held in the highest regards for performances that can only be assessed as well above average
Good LUCK in the final if it comes your way [as it should]
IMO, from a technical standpoint, Oliver intelligently adjusted his foul-calling criteria to key moments of the match.
ReplyDeleteDisciplinarily, he managed the match very well, using YCs only when necessary, with consistent criteria.
He was very good athletically, but he struggled with his positioning, occasionally getting in the way of the ball and the players.
His approach was always calm and confident, which made him reliable.
He confirmed to Collina that he is a reliable and top quality referee.
Overall, a decidedly good performance.
I totally agree with your analysis of the English referee, as always you can hit the main qualities and actions performed on the pitch. Oliver is always master of the match, he never chases it, this is thanks to his way of interfacing with the players and his technical and disciplinary choices. He has a maturity visible to the naked eye, always calm, never agitated. I think he can referee any match and if I were responsible I know that giving him a match is like putting it in the bank.
DeleteThanks for your words 😉
DeleteYour vision and your ability to analyze are of a man very experienced in the field testifying to the great Italian ability and school
DeleteWell, if we speak about rewarding referee with final, now I will go with the referee which match was most under pressure with, I will go with Makhdameh in final, becouse he have top Usa Belgium officiating!
ReplyDeleteFor me and on the partial 4F score and the National Teams again on the game, possible options (although only IMO):
ReplyDeleteSF 1: Valenzuela
SF 2: Faghani
3rd Place: Marciniak (or Claus)
Final: Mekkelie
Just curious, why do you think Makkelie will referee the final?
DeleteMakkelie has great experience and is considered reliable by Collina. His WC performances have been very good and effective as well, and he is from an absolutely neutral country.
DeleteIt's not much to speculate around since it's already decided that Makkelie will do the final, since the start of the tournament.
DeleteAll referees who were 4th official in KO rounds of WC no chance for being the main referee in final, so Makkelie for sure is out.
ReplyDeleteFalse. Pinheiro was fourth official for Makkelie in KO and he has a QF. So don’t talk for nothing.
DeleteMariani being rumoured for the final if from UEFA, Valanzuela for CONNEBOL, source Mark Clattenburg
ReplyDeleteAnd, nobody of them at the end, there was at least 4 better referees than them!
Delete