Friday, 10 October 2025

2025/26 FIFA WC European Qualifiers - Referee Appointments MD8 (October 2025)

2026 FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers, October 2025.  Referee assignments for MD8. 



Sunday 12 October 2025

Group H
15:00 CET - Serravalle (San Marino Stadium)
SAN MARINO - CYPRUS
Referee: Aliyar Aghayev AZE
Assistant Referee 1: Zeynal Zeynalov AZE
Assistant Referee 2: Akif Amirali AZE
Fourth Official: Elchin Masiyev AZE
Video Assistant Referee: Pawel Malec POL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Tamás Bognár HUN
UEFA Referee Observer: David Malcolm NIR
UEFA Delegate: Márton Esterházy HUN

Group C
18:00 CET - Glasgow (Hampden Park)
SCOTLAND - BELARUS
Referee: Marian Barbu ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Mircea Mihail Grigoriu ROU
Assistant Referee 2: George Florin Neacsu ROU
Fourth Official: Szabolcs Kovacs ROU
Video Assistant Referee: Ovidiu Haţegan ROU
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Adrian Costreie ROU
UEFA Referee Observer: Lucílio Cardoso Cortez Batista POR
UEFA Delegate: Mirosław Ryszka POL

Group G
18:00 CET - Amsterdam (Johan Cruijff ArenA)
NETHERLANDS - FINLAND
Referee:  Slavko Vinčić SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič SVN
Fourth Official: Matej Jug SVN
Video Assistant Referee: Alen Borošak SVN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Asmir Sagrković SVN
UEFA Referee Observer: Andreas Schluchter SUI
UEFA Delegate: Mauro Tonolini ITA

Group L
18:00 CET - Tórshavn (Tórsvøllur)
FAROE ISLANDS - CZECHIA
Referee: Andrea Colombo ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Giovanni Baccini ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Davide Imperiale ITA 
Fourth Official: Luca Pairetto ITA
Video Assistant Referee: Aleandro Di Paolo ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Daniele Doveri ITA 
UEFA Referee Observer: Michaíl Koukoulákis GRE
UEFA Delegate: Florin Prunea ROU

Group C
20:45 CET - Copenhagen (Parken - Connected by 3)
DENMARK - GREECE
Referee: Michael Oliver ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt ENG
Assistant Referee 2: James Mainwaring ENG
Fourth Official: John Brooks ENG
Video Assistant Referee: Jarred Gillett AUS
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Stuart Attwell ENG 
UEFA Referee Observer: Uno Tutk EST
UEFA Delegate: Eugène Westerink NED

Group G
20:45 CET - Kaunas (Dariaus ir Girėno stadionas)
LITHUANIA - POLAND
Referee: Ondřej Berka CZE
Assistant Referee 1: Ivo Nadvornik CZE
Assistant Referee 2: Kamil Hajek CZE
Fourth Official: Marek Radina CZE
Video Assistant Referee: Gianluca Aureliano ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Daniele Paterna ITA 
UEFA Referee Observer: Jon Eilif Skjervold NOR
UEFA Delegate: Diana Bulgaru MDA

Group H
20:45 CET - Bucharest (Arena Națională)
ROMANIA - AUSTRIA
Referee: Davide Massa ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Filippo Meli ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Stefano Alassio ITA 
Fourth Official: Simone Sozza ITA
Video Assistant Referee: Michael Fabbri ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Rosario Abisso ITA 
UEFA Referee Observer: Mehmet Murat Ilgaz TUR
UEFA Delegate: Luis Cuervas del Real ESP

Group L
20:45 CET - Varaždin (Gradski stadion Varteks)
CROATIA - GIBRALTAR
Referee: Oleksii Derevinskyi UKR
Assistant Referee 1: Viktor Matyash UKR
Assistant Referee 2: Oleksii Myronov UKR
Fourth Official: Klym Zabroda UKR
Video Assistant Referee: Viktor Kopiievskyi UKR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Denys Shurman UKR
UEFA Referee Observer: Barış Şimşek TUR
UEFA Delegate: Ignas Marcinkevičius LTU
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10 comments:

  1. Ecosse10 October 2025 at 10:23

    Interesting having an English referee for a match which has a large bearing on Scotland

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1ionsx10 October 2025 at 11:18

    Knew Oliver will ref that match. Hugely crucial match for both teams. If Greece lose they’re out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ssss10 October 2025 at 11:27

    I think there's a lack of attention for Georgian referees, I just can't really find any other reason.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Philipp S10 October 2025 at 11:43

    Astonishing to have a referee from Second group for the important game FAR-CZE.
    And at the same time, referees with CL experience on games like LVA-AND and SMR-CYP...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chefren10 October 2025 at 13:18

      While for Colombo you can say "it's Faroe Islands...", the problem are rather in the other appointments. The Azeri referee gets very often such treatment, going to officiatethe easiest national teams but at same time getting certain experience in Champions League. That's absolutely not logic. While for Kabakov, even if there were issues at the Summer Course (one could find only this argument), the appointment is still a bad one, given his experience, at a certain point it would be better a NO APPOINTMENT to keep something logical.
      But this is how it also works, referees in UEFA are used like committee wants, if there is a need to push somebody, no matter the game and the stage of competition, it's OK, while others must always wait years and years. It's a general point, but the basic truth can't really be argued.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous10 October 2025 at 12:28

    I think UEFA plays it a bit too safe with Vincic. He’s a top (!) referee — he gets big games and even politically sensitive ones like Israel–Italy — but usually early on, when the stakes aren’t that high.

    Once we reach the decisive final rounds, he tends to disappear from the spotlight and avoids the high-pressure (top) clashes. That feels a bit underwhelming for someone of his calibre.

    Netherlands–Finland is a fine appointment, but again, a safe one. Finland isn’t exactly fiery, and the Dutch are heavy favorites in this group — they could even lose 4–0 to Poland and still top the group.

    For a UCL final and EURO semi-final ref, I’d expect a more daring and more challenging appointment.

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  6. Jaime10 October 2025 at 13:51

    Important game for Oliver. Can expect this to be a tough match. Faroes vs Czech can also be something challenging - Faroes quite strong at home. Nothing special with the rest of the appointments but nice to see Berka with an opportunity again.

    No Scottish referees appointed this window at all seems odd - quite hard to explain their treatment just now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Philipp S10 October 2025 at 16:16

      Beaton and Walsh worked in the last window though.
      In general, all the First group referees, who are appointed on MD7/8 so far, haven't had a game on MD5/6 - so this seems to be a strategy and explains some choices.

      Delete
    2. ScotRef10 October 2025 at 16:16

      Terrible treatment which i just cant understand and nobody on this blog seems to point out, and countless questions ive asked have been ignored.

      Delete

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