2026 FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers, November 2025. Referee assignments for MD10.
Group F
15:00 CET - Budapest (Puskás Aréna)
HUNGARY - REPUBLIC OF IRELAND Referee: Espen Eskås NOR
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Erik Engan NOR
Assistant Referee 2: Isaak Elias Bashevkin NOR
Fourth Official: Sigurd Kringstad NOR
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Kristoffer Hagenes NOR
UEFA Referee Observer: Helmut Fleischer GER
UEFA Delegate: Philippe Prudhon FRA
Group F
15:00 CET - Porto (Estádio do Dragão)
PORTUGAL - ARMENIA
Referee: Irfan Peljto BIH Assistant Referee 1: Senad Ibrišimbegović BIH
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Daniele Paterna ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Mark Whitby WAL
UEFA Delegate: Samuel Dennison NIR
Group D
18:00 CET - Warsaw, POL (The Marshall Józef Piłsudski's Municipal Stadium of Legia Warsaw)
UKRAINE - ICELAND
Referee: Anthony Taylor ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick ENGAssistant Video Assistant Referee: Darren England ENG
UEFA Referee Observer: Gediminas Mažeika LTU
UEFA Delegate: Eduard Kindle LIE
Group K
18:00 CET - Leskovac (Dubočica Stadium)
SERBIA - LATVIA
Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Iker de Francisco Grijalba ESP Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Paolo Dondarini ITA
UEFA Delegate: Artur Azaryan ARM
Group K
18:00 CET - Tirana (Air Albania Stadium)
ALBANIA - ENGLAND
Referee: Marco Guida ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Giorgio Peretti ITAAssistant Video Assistant Referee: Valerio Marini ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen NOR
UEFA Delegate: Angelo Chetcuti MLT
Group D
18:00 CET - Baku (Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium)
AZERBAIJAN - FRANCE
Referee: Andris Treimanis LVA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Kristaps Ratnieks LVA
UEFA Referee Observer: Aleksandar Stavrev MKD
UEFA Delegate: Anna Kapasoglou GRE
Group I
20:45 CET - Milan (Stadio Giuseppe Meazza)
ITALY - NORWAY
Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Valentín Pizarro Gómez ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Marinus Koopman NED
UEFA Delegate: Iain Blair SCO
Group I
20:45 CET - Chişinău, MDA (Stadionul Zimbru)
ISRAEL - MOLDOVA
Referee: Allard Lindhout NED
Assistant Referee 2: Johan Balder NED
Fourth Official: Joey Kooij NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Edwin Van De Graaf NED
UEFA Referee Observer: William Collum SCO
UEFA Delegate: Michal Mertinyák SVK
De Burgos is officially new Spanish n⁰3
ReplyDeleteBut Hernandez got the better appointment in this set...
DeleteOr do you mean Gil Manzano is n°4 now?
Manzano is still a great referee. Don’t think he is No. 4.
Delete1) Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez
Delete2) Jesus Gil Manzano
3) De Burgos Bengoetxea
4) Hernandez Hernandez
And Alberola Rojas upcoming to the 4th place with a tendency to climb further up the ladder
last week Fenerbahce made an official complaint to UEFA about referee Allard Lindhout..
ReplyDeleteso can we say big support to Allard lindhout by uefa ?
No, because he gets a meaningless game. Actually that's a bad appointment for a referee with CL experience, I think.
DeleteMost probably the appointment for the qualifiers was made before the Fenerbahce match and UEFA didn't want to remove him from the appointment which is the right move in my opinion
DeleteAn excellent match for Eskas, one that directly decides who goes to the playoffs, and in some crazy scenario Hungary could even reach the World Cup. Eskas continues to stay on the edge of the TOP level and could earn himself a ticket to the WC.
ReplyDeleteI thought Peljto would get a “stronger” match, but things aligned in a way that this one also became a must-win for Portugal, so it will be monitored closely by the organization. I’m not really sure about his current status after he wasn’t appointed last Champions League round. Whether Rocchi, as his observer, was dissatisfied with his performance in RMA–MAR, I don’t know, but we’ll see what happens.
Taylor, after a questionable performance in the CL, gets an OK match, but with this appointment UEFA showed the advantage Oliver currently has.
The other referees don’t have some of the most important fixtures, but they still need to prove themselves on the biggest stage for the future. Burgos, Lindhout, Treimanis… they are probably not TOP level, but UEFA might continue giving them more opportunities. Hernández and Guida are there, but realistically they are not WC candidates.
I think, Taylor's appointment is as good as Oliver's here given the group situation.
DeleteMost important match to Eskas, very good appointment; I don't know if Hz Hz was scheduled for Italy-Norway since the beginning or if it is a replacement due to the standing and the fact that all is already decided. Glad to see De Burgos, Lindhout and Treimanis, few names different from the the same
ReplyDeleteThe appointments have been all made before this matchday, so one should only think about the possibility of a replacement for Hernandez Hernandez in case of draw between Norway and Estonia, but given the very short time (game yesterday, appointment released today) rather impossible to believe. The Spanish referee would have got a big one after months of nothing, but I think in Rosetti's mind this was impossible to happen and indeed it didn't happen.
DeleteAs for the Spanish, it is the perfect configuration for him, being back in a certain game under spotlights, but without a real stake.
Sometimes I wonder whether the same referees are so much aware of the nature of their assignments, like we discuss them on the blog, but very likely in some cases answer is rather "no" :)
Very big game for Eskas, but given that assignments were made before, one could argue that they didn't expect such a situation. Nevertheless, the game is OK for the Norwegian, given the recent progress and his solid path in UEFA. A real test for him. Strict officiating is expected to keep everything under control (my advice to him. Peljto back in Portugal, to me, given the same argument as before, it was hard to believe Portugal would have been still in this situation, but they will be mostly OK with only one point to gain. The Bosnian a bit out of the spotlights, but still in a rather OK assignment I think, waiting for the next ones. Should be not challnging in Porto, but we will see.
ReplyDeleteStill big credit to Taylor with a decisive game for second place in that group. Similar to Oliver's assignment, bu this less rough on paper in my opinion but with "Ukraine" as spotlight.
For Guida in Albania, absolutely meaningless game, could have been important only for Albania in case of missed win against Andorra but it didn't happen. Understanding his current reputation is very hard, you should have expected more by a referee attending EURO.
The rest is all normal assignments, Lindhout doesn't have that big trust. For me, committee didn't consider that game between Viktoria Plzen and Fenerrbahçe as very big one, and they now continue with rather sub standard matches. The feeling is that they aer waiting for the next Dutch Category 1 after him, because he didn't manage to convince so far with his performances.
Lindhout is currently the Dutch Nr 3, but there is still a big gap between him and Makkelie and Gozubuyuk. He is just not a convincing referee in his performances, both domestically and internationally. Looks like Van der Eijk is on track to become the next Category 1 referee from The Netherlands. He has had some good international appointments this year. In the Dutch league, he still has to prove himself in big games.
Delete