2026 FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers, June 2025.
Group J
16:00 CET - Astana (Astana Arena)
KAZAKHSTAN - NORTH MACEDONIA
Referee: Filip Glova SVK
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Poláček SVK
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Bednár SVK
Fourth Official: Peter Kráľovič SVK
Video Assistant Referee: Martin Dohál SVK
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Boris Marhefka SVK
UEFA Referee Observer: Ante Vučemilović CRO
UEFA Delegate: Cenk Cem TUR
Group I
20:45 CET - Reggio Emilia (Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore)
ITALY - MOLDOVA
Referee: Urs Schnyder SUI
Assistant Referee 1: Marco Zürcher SUI
Assistant Referee 2: Benjamin Zürcher SUI
Fourth Official: Luca Cibelli SUI
Video Assistant Referee: Lionel Tschudi SUI
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Sven Wolfensberger SUI
UEFA Referee Observer: Augustus Viorel Constantin ROU
UEFA Delegate: Geórgios Fandáros CYP
Group I
20:45 CET - Tallinn (A. Le Coq Arena)
ESTONIA - NORWAY
Referee: Srđan Jovanović SRB
Assistant Referee 1: Uroš Stojković SRB
Assistant Referee 2: Milan Mihajlović SRB
Fourth Official: Novak Simović SRB
Video Assistant Referee: Momčilo Marković SRB
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jelena Cvetković SRB
UEFA Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu ROU
UEFA Delegate: Patrick Wattebled FRA
Group J
20:45 CET - Brussels (Koning Boudewijnstadion)
BELGIUM - WALES
Referee: Irfan Peljto BIH
Assistant Referee 1: Senad Ibrišimbegović BIH
Assistant Referee 2: Davor Beljo BIH
Fourth Official: Luka Bilbija BIH
Video Assistant Referee: Alen Borošak SVN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Asmir Sagrković SVN
UEFA Referee Observer: Sokol Jareci ALB
UEFA Delegate: Mark Bos NED
Group L
20:45 CET - Osijek (Opus Arena)
CROATIA - CZECHIA
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Barbero Sevilla ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Ángel Nevado Rodríguez ESP
Fourth Official: Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Valentín Pizarro Gómez ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Michael Riley ENG
UEFA Delegate: Georges Lüchinger LIE
Group L
20:45 CET - Tórshavn (Tórsvøllur)
FAROE ISLANDS - GIBRALTAR
Referee: Yigal Frid ISR
Assistant Referee 1: Matityahu Yakobov ISR
Assistant Referee 2: Rostislav Talis ISR
Fourth Official: Snir Levi ISR
Video Assistant Referee: Ziv Adler ISR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Eitan Shmuelevitz ISR
UEFA Referee Observer: Helmut Fleischer GER
UEFA Delegate: Nina Hedlund NOR
Group G
20:45 CET - Helsinki (Helsingin Olympiastadion)
FINLAND - POLAND
Referee: João Pedro da Silva Pinheiro POR
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Miguel Alves de Jesus POR
Assistant Referee 2: Luciano António Gomes Maia POR
Fourth Official: João António Ferreira Gonçalves POR
Video Assistant Referee: Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins POR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Fábio Oliveira de Melo POR
UEFA Referee Observer: Dejan Filipović SRB
UEFA Delegate: Michal Mertinyák SVK
Group G
20:45 CET - Groningen (Euroborg)
NETHERLANDS - MALTA
Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Iker de Francisco Grijalba ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Iván Massó Granado ESP
Fourth Official: José Luis Munuera Montero ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Javier Iglesias Villanueva ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Barış Şimşek TUR
UEFA Delegate: Bert Andersson SWE
Group H
20:45 CET - Bucharest (Arena Națională)
ROMANIA - CYPRUS
Referee: Donatas Rumšas LTU
Assistant Referee 1: Aleksandr Radiuš LTU
Assistant Referee 2: Dovydas Sužiedėlis LTU
Fourth Official: Robertas Valikonis LTU
Video Assistant Referee: Donatas Šimėnas LTU
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Orestas Abramavičius LTU
UEFA Referee Observer: Emil Božinovski MKD
UEFA Delegate: Rotem Kamer ISR
Group H
20:45 CET - Serravalle (San Marino Stadium)
SAN MARINO - AUSTRIA
Referee: Ondřej Berka CZE
Assistant Referee 1: Ivo Nádvorník CZE
Assistant Referee 2: Matěj Vlček CZE
Fourth Official: Marek Radina CZE
Video Assistant Referee: Stuart Attwell ENG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Tomáš Kocourek CZE
UEFA Referee Observer: Boško Jovanetić SRB
UEFA Delegate: David Pugh ENG
Group K
20:45 CET - Leskovac (Gradski stadion Dubočica)
SERBIA - ANDORRA
Referee: Əliyar Ağayev AZE
Assistant Referee 1: Zeynal Zeynalov AZE
Assistant Referee 2: Akif Əmirəli AZE
Fourth Official: Kamal Umudlu AZE
Video Assistant Referee: Gianluca Aureliano ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Valerio Marini ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Andreas Schluchter SUI
UEFA Delegate: Ivan Lekov BUL
Group K
20:45 CET - Riga (Skonto Stadions)
LATVIA - ALBANIA
Referee: Halil Umut Meler TUR
Assistant Referee 1: Kerem Ersoy TUR
Assistant Referee 2: İbrahim Çağlar Uyarcan TUR
Fourth Official: Oğuzhan Çakır TUR
Video Assistant Referee: Harm Osmers GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Daniel Schlager GER
UEFA Referee Observer: Gianluca Rocchi ITA
UEFA Delegate: Mihail Kasabov BUL
Irfan Peljto, and his team of officials , in my opinion have been appointed to arbitrate an extremely important fixture for both nations (Wal-Bel) that could potentially decide who wins group J.
ReplyDeleteJovanovic is back..Hope he returns to his 2021-2022 level.
ReplyDeleteU21 Appointments
ReplyDeleteSlovakia - Spain: Sylwestrzak POL (FO Walsh)
Italy - Romania: Fotias GRE (FO Stojchevski)
What a long VAR check by Alen Borošak for this penalty whistled by Peljto.
ReplyDeleteIn the UK it would never be given. UEFA a different matter
DeleteIs it really a penalty? Hands were by his side
DeleteWhat a foul from Peljto and the VAR Borosak.
ReplyDeleteNo clear Hands come on.
A long VAR check
Good PK by Peljto, check was too long.
ReplyDeleteNever a penalty, where should you put your hands if even this is handball?
ReplyDeleteHere the clip: https://streamin.me/v/dcf677e9
ReplyDeleteEven as Italian, I must agree with you. This is rather a mistake, arm was in expected position, just a backward movement by arm once the ball arrives, but you can't punish it. Should be assessed as mistake by Slovenian VAR. Nevertheless, being a handball, maybe not objective and not a 100% one.
This can’t be punished as a penalty, he is moving his arm away from the ball, tucking it Behind his body. I don’t understand where he is meant to put his arm!
DeleteThere is one important thing about defenders action ... First time his arm is behind hi is standing not moving but this hand is going toward from behind this was not becous of defenders move so there is element about dellibarity play by hand :)
DeleteI'm assuming with only four added minutes after 3 goals, a very long VAR check, and some injuries, that Uefa regs are in force rather than Fifa here. As four minutes feels rather short
ReplyDeleteA challenging game for Peljto, despite of the score in favor of Belgium. Now penalty to Wales for a late challenge by keeper, hitting the attacker and not the ball. Another medium - long check by the Slovenian in VAR room. I couldn't see a replay confirmed the call by referee, but it looked a correct one at first glance.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely correct second penalty. The first one however… oof. Bad decision by the referee and the VAR.
DeleteAgreed, good penalty in favour of the Welsh but also for me the first penalty is a plainly wrong decision, both by the Cr as well as the Var. This position of the arms (and a player even pulling away his arm) cannot result in a penalty awarded as far as I’m concerned.
DeleteVery debatable no call from Manzano in CRO-CZE,right at the end of 1st half.
ReplyDeleteContact between CRO attacker and CZE defender in the box,no penalty was awarded even there was no VAR check.
Other than that,fair game and no problem from Gil.
For me not much controversy in the mentioned penalty area incident at the end of the first half. I don’t see a clear foul by the Czech defender, more a coming together of two players which should be considered a regular football contact.
DeleteApart from that an early Croatian goal (11.) correctly disallowed after a punishable offside (attacker in offside position blocking a defender and stopping him from challenging for the ball).
As for the rest I agree, good 1st half and no problems for the Spanish ref.
Does anyone have a better angle on the CRO-CZE penalty? I don't really see it, contact seems minor from the angles shown so far.
ReplyDeleteIt looked like a very, very soft penalty but defender did touch his opponent without playing the ball. A Var-penalty typical for this era. I strongly dislike these kinds of penalty, but probably little to argue according to current Uefa guidelines…
DeleteThe angle used to show the contact doesn't allow us to discuss about the intensity and in my opinion it's possible that, despite of an evident late action, contact is soft. Nevertheles, as unknown said above, this are always assessed as penalty in modern refereeing.
Deletehttps://streamin.me/v/1c54b609
Thanks! I have to agree I also strongly dislike this type of penalty, it's impossible to tell the intensity, and given that there is no clear chance to score, I think just playing on would be better for football. Hopefully guidelines can change :-)
DeleteAnd after the controversial handball penalty in BEL-WAL now another controversial handball call in CRO-CZE (69.). Holes clearing the ball on the goal line and preventing a certain Croatian goal, but with his arms tight to his body. If punishable though, the Yc correct (DOGSO handball - undeliberate).
ReplyDeleteI think that LOTG will change soon also in this aspect. When a hanbdall is committed on the line and a goal is saved (no keeper behind), it's impossible to apply the criteria used for handball. Nobody wold accept that. According to rules, this is a 100% no penalty, but you can understand why Spanish VAR didn't intervene...
Deletehttps://streamin.me/v/c3f3fb9a
So I ask Rosetti what should we do here?
IMO correct decision by Gil Manzano, both technically and disciplinarily.
DeleteThough I hate this new handball DOGSO PK interpretation (only YC if referee considers it's not 'voluntary'), makes it more difficult to both interpret the action in real time and sell to the attacking players a non-RC decision.
Though I understand the “preventing sure goal with arm” argument could be sufficient for considering the penalty as correct on a ‘gut feeling level’, how would you argue the decision ‘technically’ correct? So, based on the Lotg?
DeleteYep cause if he does not block it then its clear goal.
DeleteSo yes,it's hard to sell that,but you can understand player's frustration.
Yep cause if he does not block it then its clear goal.
DeleteSo yes,it's hard to sell that,but you can understand player's frustration.
Yes I agree that LOTG need to change in this aspect. Not giving anything for clear goal blocked by a handball would be crazy, however, the hand is technically in a legal position and it looked unintentional to me. Maybe a good compromise would be penalty and no card in such cases?
DeleteThe change of the LoTG has been inevitable in this regard. Penalizing the attacker for scoring or touching the ball by hand (in natural position) immediately before scoring should reflect on defender preventing the goal with his arm/s in natural position. It should be handball in both cases.
DeleteYea, that actually makes a lot of sense. Though where the handball-by-attacker situation is explicitly described in the Lotg the handball-preventing-goal is not (yet?) addressed as such.
DeleteUnfortunate advantage for Estonia called by Jovanovic, moments before Norway scores 0-1. Advantage didn't benefit attacking team (resulted in a blocked shot) whereas a free kick would have been in a very good spot.
ReplyDeleteThink advantage is the wrong call, but that's subjective.
Yep, kinda unfortunate that Norway scored in the counter-attack (gave another good advantage in that counter-attack fwiw) after they blocked the shot by Estonian attacker.
DeleteThis VAR performance in Brussels is absurd tonight. Far too long and baffling everyone. This is a horrible look for UEFA. Utterly shambolic
ReplyDeleteIncredible game not only or Peljto but also for Borosak. They should now show the evidence of ball out, another very long check (but in this case we can understand why, not easy).
ReplyDeleteApart from the first penalty, I thought he had a great game, one can see why he’s risen so quickly. Disappointing that the VAR didn’t intervene on the early mistake. As for any wrong corner kick, it’s unlucky if a mistake led to a goal, but this can’t be considered a critical error by a referee just because of the result, those mistakes are normal.
DeleteFully agree, he showed once again he is always prone to take decisions, that's important. Most of fault to VAR regarding handball. I think commitee will share the same thought.
DeleteSmart refereeing prevents big mistakes and the AR was not smart here. The mistake caused unnecessary VAR intervention and problem in dealing with technical area and management of the rest of the game.
DeleteVery long VAR decision in Belgium again. VAR says the ball went out of play before Belgium goal.
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested in seeing what camera angle VAR has used to say definitively that the ball was out there. Neither of the angles seen on the broadcast were definitive
ReplyDeleteCorner incorrectly awared to Belgium and they score on the 2nd phase
ReplyDeleteDifficult to spot it live but of course Wales would feel that key decisions went against them...
Delete
ReplyDeleteSlovenian VAR has always been terrible and amateurish. They are only there thanks to Ceferin and Sajn. Where would they be if they came from Bulgaria or Cyprus?
Anybody observe Jovanovic,comments about his performance?
ReplyDeleteI only watched the first half and he was fine, but being a little demanding, I don't know if it was just me, but I saw him a little out of shape…a little slow in some plays... Maybe it's the lack of international matches.
DeleteGood and expected performance by Frid in Faroe Islands
ReplyDeleteAsian WCQ appointments today:
ReplyDeleteJPNIDN: Kim Jong-hyeok (KOR)
CHNBHR: Adel Al-Naqbi (UAE)
KORKUW: Majed Al-Shamrani (KSA)
KGZUAE: Ahmad Al-Ali (KUW)
UZBQAT: Ma Ning (CHN)
IRNPRK: Nazmi Nasaruddin (MAS)
KSAAUS: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (QAT)
JORIRQ: Omar Al-Ali (UAE)
PLEOMA: Mooud Bonyadifard (IRN)
Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea with a long OFR in NED - MLT to revoke a penalty he had whistled, but he confirmed it.It was interesting to hear him in communication with VAR, I tried to understand the Spanish, I think he said something like player was obstructed, no space to play the ball. arguing with Cuadra for having called.
ReplyDeleteI tried to figure out, at first he's asking for different camera angles ("frontal, lateral"), then he says at one point "el 21 mete la pierna hacia adelante, mira", i.e. "look, #21 puts his leg forward". I maybe could have understood more if not for the UEFAtv commentator talking...
DeleteI didn't post to often in recent years but i have to tell that OFR in Netherlands- Malta was insane. How on earth is possible to call for OFR in that situation ? It was crystal clear. Honestly, the level of refereeing is poor these days.
ReplyDeleteMeler has communication problems with his VAR. I’m in the stadium and Schlager just ran out the VAR room to confirm the penalty
ReplyDelete38' big miss by Rumsas, clear red card for a challenge by keeper, he should have definitely reacted here, these are not mistakes a referee on the way to Elite should do. Also, I can't understand why a so long OFR. This is incredible..
ReplyDeleteWell, I can't believe the outcome of the OFR.
DeleteAccording to VAR output, Rumsas assessed NO FOUL.
IMO it was foul, but not red. It was a SPA, not DOGSO, the attacker has 2 defenders near him and I am romanian.
DeleteI think the issue was that they showed wrong footage to Rumsas. From the broadcaster's first slowmotion you could see that the keeper definitely kicked the attacker first and then the ball, but honestly from angles what VAR showed to Rumsas I felt like the goalkeeper played the ball and you could see the reaction of Rumsas that he did not understand why they called him for that and what they are trying to show to him. So apparently I started to feel like he will never give a RC for that and based on the footage they showed to him I totally understand it.
DeletePenalty awarded by Pinheiro in FINPOL
ReplyDeletehttps://streambug.org/cv/07ad98
Second action by keeper, clear foul. Correct decision. Would have been questionable to call for the first challenge.
DeleteHowever, am I wrong or referee whistled when attacker was shoting on goal and not waiting for a possible goal before?
Maybe a too long delayed whistle? :)
This is the moment the whistle came...
Deletehttps://ibb.co/ksG1tWZf
So, very lucky that a goal didn't happen. Poor timing.
DeleteIncorrect handball penalty given in San Marino. Good intervention
ReplyDeleteWhile in Serbia - Andorra OFR for assigning a handball penalty, correct decision. Missed by Aghayev live.
DeleteSomebody is resuscitated in the stands in FINPOL. The match has been suspended.
ReplyDelete69' Poland's goal - potential foul of the goalscorer:
https://streambug.org/cv/076f4f
I think OK to allow the goal. Not a foul for me.
DeleteVery good advantage prior to Finland's second goal:
Deletehttps://streambug.org/cv/14eeaa
CONCACAF Qualifiers Second Round Today:
ReplyDeleteSt. Kitts And Nevis-Grenada: Christopher Corado (GUA)
Cuba-Bermuda: Oliver Vergara (PAN)
Saint Lucia-Barbados: Sergio Reyna (GUA)
Haiti-Curazao: Steven Madrigal (CRC)
Jamaica-Guatemala: David Gómez (CRC)
Dominican Republic-Dominica: Marianela Araya (CRC)
Guyana-Montserrat: Riçangel de Leça (CUW)
Panama-Nicaragua: Ismael Lopez (MEX)
Costa Rica-Trinidad And Tobago: Daniel Quintero (MEX)
Puerto Rico-Saint Vincent: Randy Encarnación (DOM)
El Salvador-Suriname: Jon Freemon (USA)
Honduras-Antigua & Barbuda: Iván Barton (SLV)
Honduras-Antigua & Barbuda: José Garcia (SLV)*
DeleteCONMEBOL Qualifiers Today:
ReplyDeleteBolivia-Chile: Esteban Ostojich (URU)
Argentina-Colombia: Juan Benitez (PAR)
Uruguay-Venezuela: Raphael Claus (BRA)
Brazil-Paraguay: Facundo Tello (ARG)
Peru-Ecuador: Andres Rojas (COL)
I watched the Brazil vs. Paraguay game yesterday. And I'll be honest: Tello's direction was more focused on Paraguay during the match. Childish mistakes on his part. In South America, there is a notorious habit of referees tending to favor a skilled national team because it is a rival of the referee's country. Put Claus or Sampaio to referee the Argentina game, no one will trust their work 100%. The same applies to Tello or any important referee in Argentine football.
Delete