Discussing referees' performances at 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
Group Stage, MD2
Group G
Sunday 22 June 2025, 18:00 CET
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Juventus (ITA) - Wydad Casablanca (MAR)
Referee: Said Martinez HON
Assistant Referee 1: Walter Lopez HON
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Ramirez HON
Fourth Official: Ma Ning CHN
Video Assistant Referee: Erick Miranda MEX
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Shaun Evans AUS
Support Video Assistant Referee: Khamis Al Marri QAT
Group H
Sunday 22 June 2025, 21:00 CET
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
Real Madrid CF (ESP) - Pachuca (MEX)
Referee: Ramon Abatti BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Daniolo Manis BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Rafael Alves BRA
Fourth Official: Espen Eskas NOR
Video Assistant Referee: Hernan Mastrangelo ARG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Juan Lara CHI
Support Video Assistant Referee: Marco Di Bello ITA
Group H
Monday 23 June 2025, 00:00 CET
Audi Field, Washington
FC Salzburg (AUT) - Al Hilal (KSA)
Referee: Wilton Sampaio BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Boschilia BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Pires BRA
Fourth Official: Jean Jacques Ndala Ngambo COD
Video Assistant Referee: Nicolas Gallo COL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Armando Villarreal USA
Support Video Assistant Referee: Bram Van Driessche BEL
Group G
Monday 23 June 2025, 03:00 CET
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Manchester City (ENG) - Al Ain (UAE)
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal ALG
Assistant Referee 1: Mokrane Gourari ALG
Assistant Referee 2: Abbes Akram Zerhouni ALG
Fourth Official: Alireza Faghani IRN / AUS
Video Assistant Referee: Mahmoud Ashour EGY
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Leodan Gonzalez URU
Support Video Assistant Referee: Fu Ming CHN
A few remarks on the MD3 referee appointments.
ReplyDeleteInter vs. River Plate was the perfect match for Barton. My interpretation; FIFA wants to keep Barton on board a little longer. MD3 matches can be more (media) sensitive, since teams that are eliminated often feel free to publicly criticize and blame the referee for their loss. Tantashev, who isn’t AFC’s number one, gets the challenge. Meanwhile, Faghani can start prepping for the knockouts. I have to say, the “shelter strategy” is a bit disappointing.
Zwayer doing Urawa twice is definitely odd. He obviously can’t officiate Fluminense because they share a group with Dortmund. Still, I find this policy hard to read. Maybe this is the perfect kind of game to keep Zwayer in the tournament a little longer? Also kind of… tucked away?
And then there’s Letexier, who seems to fast-track straight into the knockouts, even though there are clearly tougher matches than Benfica–Bayern. I have thoughts about that — especially considering Turpin had the better season, by far.
A thankless task for Nyberg. On one hand, he deserved more after his first match. On the other hand, there are many European heavyweights present, and FIFA is treating this tournament with deadly seriousness…
And finally: Eskas as fourth official is not a good sign. No trace of István Kovacs — and if he were still around, surely we would’ve seen him as a fourth official by now.
I've been very critical of Vincic before, but last night he adapted very well to a typical "Copa Libertadores"-style game. He could have shown a couple more yellow cards, but he always had control of the game and stood firm in an extremely difficult match to referee. That only comes with experience as a referee. He dismissed the players' complaints when they asked for a red card, and he spoke when necessary. He showed the appropriate yellow cards, and the expulsions were correct. He perfectly understood the atmosphere and the temperature of the match. In other words, he applied the rules, but he also understood the game. Very well for him.
ReplyDeleteWell, the performances of Vincic this year remember me to a rollercoaster. At least he is on top now.
DeleteJuve 7 is making this game more difficult for the officials all by himself. Exaggerating every little contact trying to get his opponents in trouble. Other than that, not too much for Martinez to do, he's managed well...
ReplyDeleteThere were at least 2mins of stoppages in ET for injuries, he could have allowed that corner
Agree. Similar approach to his first game, a rather early but soft YC (soft stamp on heel in 23‘ to WAC#22) but then no more card issued and even a clear SPA offence ignored in 37‘.
DeleteCautioned WAC#22 has to be careful in 2nd half, a few borderline fouls committed already.
48' clear YC missed for reckless and also reaction by player after foul whistled, very poor this one!
ReplyDeleteAlso missed YC on thuram and on the foul on Cambiaso
Delete49' The whistle had long long gone before that ball was kicked completely across the pitch. Yes, the Juve player needing treatment means no real delay, but that was blatant
ReplyDelete61' Again, kicking the ball forcefully well after the whistle, followed by imaginary card waving. There is zero reaction to any of this from Martinez, meaning its starting to happen more and more, and the temperature is rising
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't like at all this officiating, from some aspects, not so different from Ramos...
ReplyDeleteHow bad is this refereeing from Martinez…
ReplyDeleteI didn’t catch his first game, how did he do if someone saw it??
I thought he was pretty good in his first game, close to very good
Delete90'+3' Vlahovic wins a penalty by initiating a fall and exaggerating a soft contact. To me, not even a foul.
ReplyDeleteVery soft penalty, but not totally wrong. Not convincing display by the referee from Honduras.
DeleteRed card by Abatti. Very clear and the way Madrid have been playing, it’s been coming..
ReplyDeleteIt's not even a foul, he grabbed the shirt but he didn't really pull it to justify the fall. Also not a clear goal scoring opportunity whatsoever.
DeleteI think you’re on your own there, presumably you’re a Madrid fan too so your judgement is clouded somewhat. As clear dogso as it gets
DeleteIt is a very clear red card, if you want to question on the foul, OK, but once whistled, it doesn't exist any explanation to justify no RC.
DeleteThe pull is soft/fleeting and the player exaggerates the fall, but a foul/RC is still the expected decision. Clear Dogso once given... I do think a LoR holding could (should) have been cautioned in the 4th min, but the trend is to not open cards early with situations like that
DeleteOnce whisteled var can’t intervene.
DeleteClear rc good spot
ReplyDeleteA few minutes ago possible penalty, keeper playing ball but then committing an "unexpected" step on foot on opponent, I think we could describe it in this way. Fully agree that this wasn't a clear and obvious mistake, given the totally unexpected situation and the full fair action before.
ReplyDeleteIn these cases, it's important to remember that the attacker has to take responsibility as well - where's the keeper supposed to put the foot? IMO the first one on the ball should never be punished unless they are doing something very dangerous.
DeleteI don't have the time but the long check for a potential PK for Pachuca was a really close call, that for me could have been an OFR and possibly a PK at the end
ReplyDeleteAbout Martinez: In his first game the performance was good, now just average imo. His technical skills are great, but he still needs to act more precautious in terms of disciplinary issues. But maybe some guys on CONCACAF would not like him doing that...!?
ReplyDeleteClear penalty missed by ghorbal especially as he had a good view. Var saved him.
ReplyDeleteAlso had to rescind Aït Nouri's yellow card given for SPA
DeleteHmm. Regarding the management of the French officials:
ReplyDeleteLet’s suspect that Clément Turpin will be appointed for Thursday’s Juventus–City clash. That would make sense, especially now that his compatriot François Letexier has been handed Real Madrid. But the timing of Turpin’s second appearance — very late in the group stage — doesn’t exactly bode well for his knock-out stage prospects. With little rest time available before the Round of 16, and considering referees typically need a period of (mental) recovery and downtime, it suggests Turpin may not be in FIFA’s primary plans for the later stages. At this point, both Michael Oliver and Slavko Vinčić appear to be locked in for the knock-out rounds, with Marciniak and Letexier likely penciled in — assuming they perform solidly in their opening games. All signs point to a maximum of five UEFA referees being used beyond the group stage.
There’s also an added complication for Turpin: PSG. And while he may still be in contention for a potential quarter-final or even a semi-final, much depends on confederation neutrality. Whether UEFA is prepared to bend that principle remains to be seen. I doubt it.
It does raise an interesting question: who at UEFA/FIFA decided that Letexier deserves a knock-out appointment while Turpin, arguably the more consistent performer this season, might fall out? So far, Letexier has done little to stand out on FIFA’s radar…
Regarding the final candidates:
In recent tournaments, we’ve often seen the following pattern for referees who go on to officiate the final: Matchday 2 + Round of 16 + final.
This sequence applied to Szymon Marciniak at the 2022 World Cup, as well as to Glenn Nyberg. At this tournament, the officials who appear to be following that same trajectory are Slavko Vinčić, Michael Oliver, and also Ivan Barton — who, in my view, are the main contenders for the final. As impressive as Vinčić has been, part of me hopes Oliver will be the one to cap off his career with this honor. He’s been in strong form throughout the UEFA season, but with English teams reaching the latter stages, his assignments were limited — with only the UEFA Conference League semi-final to show for it. A final would be fitting compensation imho.