Group Stage - Matchday 1
Sunday 21 December 2025
Group A
20:00 CET - Rabat (Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah)
MOROCCO - COMOROS
Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo COD
Assistant Referee 1: Guylain Ngila Bongele COD
Assistant Referee 2: Gradel Mbilizi Mwanya COD
Fourth Official: Messie Jessie Oved Nkounkou Mvoutou CGO
Video Assistant Referee: Dahane Beida MTN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Babacar Sarr MTN
CAF Referee Observer: René Daniel Louzaya CGO
Monday 22 December 2025
Group A
15:00 CET - Casablanca (Stade Mohammed V)
MALI - ZAMBIA
Referee: Omar Abdulkadir Artan SOM
Assistant Referee 1: Liban Abdourazak Ahmed DJI
Assistant Referee 2: Abelmiro dos Reis Montenegro STP
Fourth Official: Mehrez Melki TUN
Video Assistant Referee: Lahlou Benbraham ALG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Brighton Chimene ZIM
CAF Referee Assessor: Sinko Zeli CIV
Group B
18:00 CET - Marrakech (Stade de Marrakech)
SOUTH AFRICA - ANGOLA
Referee: Mahmood Ali Mahmood Ismail SDN
Assistant Referee 1: Mohammed Abdallah Ibrahim SDN
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Eleazar Onyango Yiembe KEN
Fourth Official: Peter Waweru Kamaku KEN
Video Assistant Referee: Jalal Jayed MAR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Zakaria Brinsi MAR
CAF Referee Assessor: Yahya Hadqa MAR
Group B
21:00 CET - Agadir (Stade Adrar)
EGYPT - ZIMBABWE
Referee: Issa Sy SEN
Assistant Referee 1: Djibril Camara SEN
Assistant Referee 2: Nouha Bangoura SEN
Fourth Official: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana BDI
Video Assistant Referee: Dickens Mimisa Nyagrowa KEN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Maria Packuita Cynquela Rivet MRI
CAF Referee Assessor: Ali Mulumba Tomusange UGA
Tuesday 23 December 2025
Group D
13:30 CET - Rabat (Al Medina Stadium)
DR CONGO - BENIN
Referee: Abongile Tom RSA
Assistant Referee 1: Zakhele Thusi Granville Siwela RSA
Assistant Referee 2: Souru Phatšoane LES
Fourth Official: Ahmad Imtehaz Heeralall MRI
Video Assistant Referee: Letticia Antonella Viana SWZ
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Abdalaziz Yasir Ahmed Abdalaziz SDN
CAF Referee Assessor: Inácio Manuel Cândido ANG
Group D
16:00 CET - Tanger (Grand Stade de Tanger)
SENEGAL - BOTSWANA
Referee: Abdelaziz Bouh MTN
Assistant Referee 1: Modibo Samake MLI
Assistant Referee 2: Jonathan Ahonto Koffi TGO
Fourth Official: Boubou Traoré MLI
Video Assistant Referee: Daniel Nii Ayi Laryea GHA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Diana Chikotesha ZAM
CAF Referee Assessor: Djamel Haïmoudi ALG
Group C
18:30 CET - Fes (Complexe sportif de Fès)
NIGERIA - TANZANIA
Referee: Dahane Beida MTN
Assistant Referee 1: Jerson Emiliano dos Santos ANG
Assistant Referee 2: Ivanildo Meirelles de Oliveira Sanches ANG
Fourth Official: Clément Franklin Kpan CIV
Video Assistant Referee: Haggag Hussam Azab Ibrahim EGY
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Abdulrazg Ahmed LBY
CAF Referee Assessor: Lidya Tafesse Abebe ETH
Group C
21:00 CET - Rabat (Stade Olympique de Rabat)
TUNISIA - UGANDA
Referee: Tanguy Patrice Mebiame GAB
Assistant Referee 1: Boris Marlaise Ditsoga GAB
Assistant Referee 2: Amos Abeigne Ndong GAB
Fourth Official: Abdou Abdel Mefire CMR
Video Assistant Referee: Pierre Ghislain Atcho GAB
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Elvis Guy Noupue Nguegoue CMR
CAF Referee Assessor: Fatou Gaye SEN
Wednesday 24 December 2025
Group E
13:30 CET - Casablanca (Stade Mohamed V)
BURKINA FASO - EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Referee: Mohamed Maarouf Eid Mansour EGY
Assistant Referee 1: Khalil Hassani TUN
Assistant Referee 2: Ahmed Hossam Taha Ibrahim EGY
Fourth Official: Omar Abdulkadir Artan SOM
Video Assistant Referee: Mahmoud Mohamed Ashour Hasan EGY
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Dickens Mimisa Nyagrowa KEN
CAF Referee Assessor: Ali Ould Lemghaifry Bouchaab MTN
Group E
16:00 CET - Rabat (Stade Prince Moulay Hassan)
ALGERIA - SUDAN
Referee: Pierre Ghislain Atcho GAB
Assistant Referee 1: Elvis Guy Noupue Nguegoue CMR
Assistant Referee 2: Carine Atezambong Fomo CMR
Fourth Official: Djindo Louis Houngnandande BEN
Video Assistant Referee: Issa Sy SEN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Djibril Camara SEN
CAF Referee Assessor: Evarist Menkouande CMR
Group F
18:30 CET - Marrakech (Stade de Marrakech)
IVORY COAST - MOZAMBIQUE
Referee: Samuel Uwikunda RWA
Assistant Referee 1: Aymar Ulrich Eric Ayimavo BEN
Assistant Referee 2: Dimbiniaina Andriatianarivelo MAD
Fourth Official: Alhadji Allaou Mahamat CHA
Video Assistant Referee: Maria Packuita Cynquela Rivet MRI
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Brighton Chimene ZIM
CAF Referee Assessor: Yahya Hadqa MAR
Group F
21:00 CET - Agadir (Stade Adrar)
CAMEROON - GABON
Referee: Amin Mohamed Omar EGY
Assistant Referee 1: Mahmoud Ahmed Abouelregal EGY
Assistant Referee 2: Adel Abane ALG
Fourth Official: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo COD
Video Assistant Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal ALG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Haythem Guirat TUN
CAF Referee Assessor: Ali Mulumba Tomusange UGA
Group Stage - Matchday 2
Friday 26 December 2025
Group B
13:30 CET - Marrakech (Stade de Marrakech)
ANGOLA - ZIMBABWE
Referee: Peter Waweru Kamaku KEN
Assistant Referee 1: Gilbert Kipkoech Cheruiyot KEN
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Eleazar Onyango Yiembe KEN
Fourth Official: Mustapha Kechchaf MAR
Video Assistant Referee: Hamza El Fariq MAR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Abdalaziz Yasir Ahmed Abdalaziz SDN
CAF Referee Assessor: Yahya Hadqa MAR
Group B
16:00 CET - Agadir (Stade Adrar)
EGYPT - SOUTH AFRICA
Referee: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana BDI
Assistant Referee 1: Djibril Camara SEN
Assistant Referee 2: Nouha Bangoura SEN
Fourth Official: Samuel Uwikunda RWA
Video Assistant Referee: Dickens Mimisa Nyagrowa KEN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Brahamou Sadou Ali NIG
CAF Referee Assessor: Ali Mulumba Tomusange UGA
Group A
18:30 CET - Casablanca (Stade Mohamed V)
ZAMBIA - COMOROS
Referee: Ahmad Imtehaz Heeralall MRI
Assistant Referee 1: Arsénio Chadreque Maringule MOZ
Assistant Referee 2: Abelmiro dos Reis Montenegro STP
Fourth Official: Mehrez Melki TUN
Video Assistant Referee: Brighton Chimene ZIM
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Maria Packuita Cynquela Rivet MRI
CAF Referee Assessor: Ali Ould Lemghaifry Bouchaab MTN
Group A
21:00 CET - Rabat (Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah)
MOROCCO - MALI
Referee: Abdou Abdel Mefire CMR
Assistant Referee 1: Styven Danek Moutsassi Moyo CGO
Assistant Referee 2: Chany Yanes Malondi CGO
Fourth Official: Abdelaziz Bouh MTN
Video Assistant Referee: Haythem Guirat TUN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Babacar Sarr MTN
CAF Referee Assessor: René Daniel Louzaya CGO
Saturday 27 December 2025
Group D
13:30 CET - Rabat (Stade Olympique de Rabat)
BENIN - BOTSWANA
Referee: Shamirah Nabadda UGA
Assistant Referee 1: Diana Chikotesha ZAM
Assistant Referee 2: Carine Atezambong Fomo CMR
Fourth Official: Clément Franklin Kpan CIV
Video Assistant Referee: Pierre Ghislain Atcho GAB
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Letticia Antonella Viana SWZ
CAF Referee Assessor: Fatou Gaye SEN
Group D
16:00 CET - Tanger (Grand Stade de Tanger)
SENEGAL - DR CONGO
Referee: Lahlou Benbraham ALG
Assistant Referee 1: Abbes Akram Zerhouni ALG
Assistant Referee 2: Adel Abane ALG
Fourth Official: Mustapha Ghorbal ALG
Video Assistant Referee: Abdulrazg Ahmed LBY
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Mahmoud Mohamed Ashour Hassan EGY
CAF Referee Assessor: Djamel Haïmoudi ALG
Group C
18:30 CET - Rabat (Al Medina Stadium)
UGANDA - TANZANIA
Referee: Jalal Jayed MAR
Assistant Referee 1: Zakaria Brinsi MAR
Assistant Referee 2: Mostafa Akarkad MAR
Fourth Official: Mustapha Kechchaf MAR
Video Assistant Referee: Hamza El Fariq MAR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jérson Emiliano dos Santos ANG
CAF Referee Assessor: Inácio Manuel Cândido ANG
Group C
21:00 CET - Fes (Complexe sportif de Fès)
NIGERIA - TUNISIA
Referee: Boubou Traoré MLI
Assistant Referee 1: Modibo Samake MLI
Assistant Referee 2: Jonathan Koffi Ahonto TOG
Fourth Official: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo COD
Video Assistant Referee: Issa Sy SEN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Haggag Hussam Azab Ibrahim EGY
CAF Referee Assessor: Lidya Tafesse Abebe ETH
Sunday 28 December 2025
Group F
13:30 CET - Agadir (Stade Adrar)
GABON - MOZAMBIQUE
Referee: Mehrez Melki TUN
Assistant Referee 1: Khalil Hassani TUN
Assistant Referee 2: Ahmed Hossam Taha Ibrahim EGY
Fourth Official: Mahmood Ali Mahmood Ismail SDN
Video Assistant Referee: Abdalaziz Yasir Ahmed Abdalaziz SDN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Haythem Guirat TUN
CAF Referee Assessor: Ali Mulumba Tomusange UGA
Group E
16:00 CET - Casablanca (Stade Mohamed V)
EQUATORIAL GUINEA - SUDAN
Referee: Messie Jessie Oved Nkounkou Mvoutou CGO
Assistant Referee 1: Guylain Ngila Bongele COD
Assistant Referee 2: Gradel Mbilizi Mwanya COD
Fourth Official: Alhadji Allaou Mahamat CHA
Video Assistant Referee: Maria Packuita Cynquela Rivet MRI
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Babacar Sarr MTN
CAF Referee Assessor: Sinko Zeli CIV
Group E
18:30 CET - Rabat (Stade Prince Moulay Hassan)
ALGERIA - BURKINA FASO
Referee: Daniel Nii Ayi Laryea GHA
Assistant Referee 1: Zakhele Thusi Granville Siwela RSA
Assistant Referee 2: Souru Phatšoane LES
Fourth Official: Abongile Tom RSA
Video Assistant Referee: Dickens Mimisa Nyagrowa KEN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Stephen Eleazar Onyango Yiembe KEN
CAF Referee Assessor: Evarist Menkouande CMR
Group F
21:00 CET - Marrakech (Stade de Marrakech)
IVORY COAST - CAMEROON
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal ALG
Assistant Referee 1: Jérson Emiliano dos Santos ANG
Assistant Referee 2: Mahmoud Ahmed Abouelregal EGY
Fourth Official: Mohamed Maarouf Eid Mansour EGY
Video Assistant Referee: Dahane Beida MTN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Brahamou Sadou Ali NIG
CAF Referee Assessor: Yahya Hadqa MAR
6’ : obvious YC to Aguerd missed by Ndala Ngombo. Simple warning not sufficient here. Lenient line of refereeing as usual for CAF referees in their continental competitions.
ReplyDelete10’: good decision with PK for Morocco. Live, strong and firm. Well done.
ReplyDeleteApart from the penalty call, not a challenging first half for the Congolese referee, but he is clearly oriented in keeping cards. Could have issued the frist booking for holding now but he warned the player.
ReplyDeleteA few seconds after my message, first booking :)
DeleteSorry to disagree the penalty was soft
ReplyDeleteWhat was this var intervention??????
ReplyDeleteAgree. Unbelievable OFR from VAR Beida. How on earth to send referee front of screen with this good no pk decision and furthermore clear handball before.
DeleteVery wrong VAR intervention, luckily it was also for the previous handball but sorry never a clear and obvious penalty what happened after. In my opinion, this intervention should have been avoided.
ReplyDeleteMandatory YC to Morocco player for this late challenge on keeper.
ReplyDeleteVery reckless.
Hmmm, I suspect the next month will underline how good of a referees manager (now-dismissed) Noumandiez Doue was. Ndala was in my view a poor choice to referee the opening game - he improved significantly from his catastrophic level of refereeing having first arrived on the top international scene in the late 2010s, but the DRC ref still has glaring deficiencies in managing the game (despite that you can see he has been well-coached, trying to issue warnings etc). No YC at 6' is wrong, but is understandable, but the penalty is quite a poor call imo - just seconds earlier, Rahimi had already committed a swan dive with no reaction at all by the ref, and then what was eventually whistled for on Diaz could easily have been shown in the pre-Arab Cup seminar for exactly what FIFA did not want given as a penalty. Beida, not a dedicated VAR, showed his lack of experience in the role with his unneccessary intervention - the handball, clear, was missed but the following incident was not a stick-on penalty at all, rather nothing. Ndala, who was about to (unfairly, according to his prior line) issue the first YC to Comoros player at 34' before fumbling around with his pockets and amateurishly changing his mind, then opened the cards instead a couple of minutes later on a bogus incident that was barely a foul at all. Overall recognition of offences has left a bit to be desired, too. As said, I would not have appointed Jean-Jacques Ndala to handle the opener (he did well in the last AFCON, but in three shrewdly-chosen assignments by Doue); from a politcal standpoint though, the appointment was to me anything but surprising.
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with politics. Now, just as a curious fact: the Secretary General of CAF, from the Congo DR, was the main advocate for Doue dismissal :)
DeleteFor those who don't know, the person responsible for referees at AFCON is Mamadou Haidara from Mali, who is currently the interim Director of the Committee.
DeleteWith due respect, your analysis is overly harsh and premature. Ngambo+Ndala hafd a good game. It's only the first assignment of the tournament, so we can't say yet about the referee committee.
Delete10' Penalty
ReplyDeletehttps://streamff.com/v/d5690813
42' No penalty upheld after OFR (handball of the attacker)
https://streambug.org/cv/2bedef
Globally good refereeing by Ndala. Nothing difficult at all. 4 YC and 1/2 forgotten. We can notice a very good performance by the two AR also.
ReplyDeleteAbout the two AR: I hope that Mr Louzaya noticed this episode and includes it in his observations.
Deletehttps://streamin.me/v/8f8c95da
Didn’t notice this but not a problem by AR here. That’s referee decision to confirm or not AR advice. Big problem for Ndala for me. But not serious at all you are right Mikael.
DeleteFor me I expected much more from Ndala Ngambo .. Not very fluid, some inconsistencies, some excessive whistles, and in my opinion, a penalty that would have caused controversy in europe.... Very average .
DeleteMauvaise désignation,
ReplyDeletePour info ,
Le président de la commission des arbitres est le congolais l'ex arbitre assistant international Olivier SAFARI
Oliver Safari is the president, and Victor Gomes is the vice president, but both are political positions. The person currently holding the position previously held by Doue, as director of referees, and who should actually be responsible for the technical aspects, is Mamadou Haidara.
DeleteTUNISIA - UGANDA : Patrice Tanguy Mebiame (GABON)
ReplyDeleteI would like to take this opportunity to thank you for also listing the referee observers. I always find it exciting to come across names that are completely unknown to me and then research the career paths of the gentlemen in question during their time as active referees. I am quite familiar with Ali Tomusange in this context, but the other three observers used so far were unfamiliar to me.
ReplyDeleteExemplary and disciplinary attitude from the BVB board regarding Karim Adeyemi's unusual behavior in the game against Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday.
ReplyDeleteHe became enraged when he was substituted in the 14th minute of the second half. He threw a water bottle on the ground and ran across the field shouting until he reached the Borussia Dortmund bench. He went to one of the seats, chose his tracksuit and headed towards the locker room, but Sebastian Kehl, the club's sporting director, stopped him.
Kehl stated that Adeyemi will be fined.
"I told him: 'Don't go to the locker room, sit there.' We will have to talk about the incident. He will receive a fine because it is something we have discussed intensely with the team in recent weeks."
Sebastian Kehl also confirmed to the reporter that one of the reasons for leaving the field early was the way he constantly addressed referee Sven Jablonski.
DR Congo - Benin : Tom Abongile
ReplyDeleteSenegal - Botswana : Abdel Aziz Bouh
Nigeria - Tanzania : Dahane Beida
Tunisia - Uganda : Tanguy Patrice Mebiame
After a first half of Nothing, OFR in 37'. To me not a very clean situation but penalty can be given and maybe expected decision for most of people.
ReplyDeleteyes agreed, I think it wasn't that obvious, because it seems the defender got both the leg and the ball .. But once VAR calls you, you have to call it.
DeleteQuite a long VAR intervention in what is a delicate challenge, and Artan awards a penalty to Mali. Good intervention imo.
ReplyDeleteSad because he was having a fine game.
Yes, indeed, but I think he believed it was the Zambian defender who was taking possession of the ball. Delicate challenge and good teamwork for me.
Delete37' Penalty after OFR:
Deletehttps://www.streambug.io/cv/ccc2ea
Otherwise, an easy-going game. Two play-on calls after follow-through challenges in 1' and 22', delaying the restart by coach in 14' and missed illegal (reckless?) use of arm close to AR1 in 29' were only worth mentioning incidents.
In the second half, one big miss in 48' (AR2 should be able to help) with a careless-reckless tackles wrongly judged as 'on the ball'. Otherwise no challenges for the Somalian who, in my opinion, wasn't 'into the game' based on lack of rapport with players / quite arrogant attitude and some wrong foul/no-foul assessments. Two mandatory YCs shown for SPA.
DeleteLet's say that such a poor game didn't encourage referee to be part of it, but yes, not the best Artan if we compare him to the referee we watched in past, for sure.
DeleteVery poor offside decision by AR1, VAR intervention to disallow 2-1 by South Africa.
ReplyDeleteErratic performance by sudanese referee Ismail. No OFR and penalty for SA perhaps a good choice but after crystal YC and second one for Modibo missed. No courage at all and very so-so performance by refs crew….
ReplyDeleteAgreed.. 2nd YC missed imo. Correct no pk decision
DeleteAfter two problematic semifinals to referee, the Italian Super Cup final went smoothly for Andrea Colombo from Como. To be fair, the level of difficulty was not the same as in the two previous matches, but the referee nevertheless helped keep everything under control, present when needed. At moment, he is without any doubt the future of Italian refereeing and is ready for the next major competition, who knows, perhaps EURO 2028 is waiting; I would bet on it. He should definitely move ahead Sozza in my opinion, hope UEFA will think about that.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%, Chefren.
DeleteFor Euro 2028, Colombo should represent Italy and Alberola Rojas should represent Spain.
Much better than the current Mariano and Sanchez Martinez.
Issa Sy missed a clear (very dark...) yellow card in the 13th minute of Egypt-Zimbabwe:
ReplyDeletehttps://streamin.me/v/df570e30
Besides that, and a missed striking incident at 85', the Senegal ref displayed what was by far the best performance of the tournament so far - with an extremely professional and convincing style and good card choices, Sy ensured that this match never boiled over despite Egypt struggling in the match. It would be real shame, in my view, if Issa Sy was not selected for the WC! Meanwhile, I agree with what was written above about Ismail: very bad lack of alertness to reckless fouls and potential conflicts by the WC-candidate official from Sudan. At times he wasn't really in control of the match, and consequently there were confrontations in both halves of the game.
More generally speaking, the appointments in the tournament look rather poorly managed to me - way too much emphasis on appointing the big names in MD1 (so what about MD2?), and it seems that Atcho has been delegated the hot button clash Algeria-Sudan, which would be a misstep in my view.
Agree with you is perf is better than all refs of firts and segund day
DeleteAgree with you. Sy's performance was outstanding.
ReplyDeleteIsmail was poor.
Cameroon - Gabon : Amin Omar
ReplyDeleteBurkina Faso - Equatorial Guinea : Mohamed Maarouf
DeleteAlgeria Sudan : Pierre Atcho
Tuesday 23rd December
DeleteTunisia-Uganda (21:00 CET)
Var: Pierre Ghislain Atcho
Wednesday 24th December
Algeria-Sudan (16:00 CET)
Ref: Pierre Ghislain Atcho
'RFEF-CON'? :D
Yeah not the best management tbh
DeleteIt's indeed very interesting to read all CAF observers' names.
ReplyDeleteVarious background of experienced officials, a former extremely experienced woman, famous assistant referees (differently from UEFA, assistant referees are allowed to become obsevers), and our Algerian well-known Algerian name from 2014 WC!
The particular thing is that in the official graphics at the benning of the games, the observers are reported as "VAR Support" officials, that's maybe because they sit in the room with VARs. If I'm not wrong I saw that.
I'm not sure if having been an active FIFA referee is a requirement for becoming an observer at UEFA. Wasn't Férenc Szekely, for example, also "only" an assistant referee (albeit a very successful one with assignments beyond UEFA competitions)?
DeleteThey are all members of the CAF referees committee.
DeleteCAF Referees Committees
President: Olivier Safari Kabene (Congo DR 🇨🇩)
Vice-President: Victor Miguel De Freitas Gomes (South Africa 🇿🇦)
Members
CECAFA :
1. Uganda 🇺🇬 : Ali Tomusangue
2. Ethiopia 🇪🇹 : Lidya Tafessa
COSAFA :
3. Angola 🇦🇴 : Inacio Candido
4. Zambia 🇿🇲 : Janny Sikazwe
UFOA/WAFU A :
5. Senegal 🇸🇳 : Fatou Gaye
6. Mauritania 🇲🇷 : Lemghaifry Bouchaab
UFOA/WAFU B :
7. Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 : Sinko Zeli
8. Nigeria 🇳🇬 : IRABOR Faith Uwugiaren
UNAF :
9. Morocco 🇲🇦 : Hadqa Yahya
10. Algeria 🇩🇿 : Djamel Haimoudi
UNIFFAC :
11. Republic of Congo 🇨🇬 : René Daniel Louzaya
12. Cameroon 🇨🇲 : Menkouande Evariste
@Peter..... to be an UEFA observer.... it seems not te be a requirement to be a former fifa referee/assistent referee.... for exemple...Marinus (Rien) Koopman from the Netherlands has never been on the Fifa list, he only refereed Dutch league, and not even the real high profile games like Ajax-Feyenoord, or AZ-PSV and those kind off matches
DeleteGood offside from AR2 in 46’ of NGATAN. Otherwise no big discussions for Beida so far
ReplyDeleteVery easy game for Tanguy Patrice Mebiame in Tunisia-Uganda .. He barely had anything to do
ReplyDeleteReferees assignement have been really difficult to get .. I still struggle to find today's Ivory Coast-Mozambique referee ..
ReplyDeleteIvory Coast - Mozambique : Samuel Uwikunda
ReplyDeleteAll four games yesterday (by Tom, Bouh, Beida and Mebiame) were refereed well.
ReplyDeleteThe standout bad moment was this poor onside call by Souro Phatsoane, he of Japan-Spain in the last WC, which was corrected by VAR: https://streambug.org/cv/4276f9
There were huge troubles for the crew of this game in the second half to connect to VAR (indeed Tom communicated to the players that, for 10min, they were playing 'blind' and all on-field calls would stand) - so it was very fortunate that the Lesotho official's mistake happened during the live minutes!
Big moment now in Burkina Faso - Equatorial Guinea, 5 minutes in second half. Egyptian referee called to OFR for assessing a possible SFP. Original YC changed in RC. It was a stepping on opponent's foot but I think the player from Equatorial Guinea could have avoided that, so one can agree with the call by Egyptian VAR.
ReplyDeleteWow what a great advantage in the last minutes brillant work
ReplyDeleteamazing match by Maarouf
ReplyDeleteAs in the Arab Cup game between the two teams, there was a correctly issued SYC in the first half of Algeria-Sudan, with the recklessness of both offences being inarguable:
ReplyDeletehttps://streamin.me/v/b29c53cb
But unlike the tie in FIFA's competition, the difficulty level has been mostly normal for the referee - and the game has been handled effectively by Pierre Ghislain Atcho thus far.
How can we look at that second yellow card incident and judge that this was “handled effectively” when Sudan #2 grabs and physically bumps the referee to intimidate him, and is not met with any sanction? This sort of physical contact needs to be met with an immediate send-off, every time.
DeletePoor offside call from later in the game by Fomo/Atcho and then confusion followed:
Deletehttps://streamin.me/v/2ee7a9c5
@DayStare9: clearly, no2's behaviour should have been addressed and a sanction issued.
Video of the OFR in Burkina Faso - Equatorial Guinea:
ReplyDeletehttps://streambug.org/cv/d7dfe6
In my opinion correct call by VAR. Not easy to spot live.
Later in second half, a goal was disallowed after VAR intervention for a missed offside by AR1:
Deletehttps://ibb.co/RGxZRW10
Not anything one can blame assistant referee for.
To follow, very good advantage before 1-1 goal, but rather immediate goal scored, would have been more difficult to whistle before (nevertheless, the referee must be praised). Very clear penalty. In a "pure refereeing world" one could have asked referee for booking player (at least for the reckless action) after the goal scored (but this would be too much in modern football...).
Video:
https://streambug.org/cv/d323fa
A bit off-topic, but since I'm curious:
ReplyDeleteThe playoff matches for the last four UEFA spots for the World Cup are sometimes held in relatively small stadiums. Looking at Path A, Wales vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina takes place at Cardiff City Stadium (Capacity: 33,280) instead of the Millennium Stadium (Capacity: 73,931). Italy also plays its parallel match against Northern Ireland in the same Path A "only" in Bergamo (Capacity: 23,439). What considerations are behind this, since it's really "do or die" and one might expect the largest stadiums to be used for these matches? Italy, for example, played against Norway in the group stage recently at San Siro. Are there requirements from UEFA/FIFA to ensure the home advantage isn’t too big, given there are no return legs? Or do the countries prefer smaller stadiums that can be better filled?
What i know for The Netherlands is that sometimes it has also to do with local autorities, and for exemple also concerts (wich can not be cancelled, last minute sceduled matches.... are not always in the prefereed stadiums because there are other events, or the city of playground does not have enough police to secure the safety, appointing a stadium to a match has to do with much more than only football and uefa, for instance the major, police, public transport capacity, type off supporters (the risk off the match) and so you can continue
DeleteWill players get one game suspension after second yellow card as in euro/WC and when will they clean this cards before semifinals as in Euro/WC? Can not find information about that.
ReplyDeleteThe level of assistant referees in CAF is absolutely ridiculous. Game 1 showed a lot of weaknesses from the ARs, with mistakes happening almost every game. It feels like a general training problem. There were missed fouls, missed offsides, and poor positioning decisions.
ReplyDeleteThe worst example was Cameroon vs. Gabon’s first goal, where the AR’s positioning was very poor. Some referees also seem too comfortable or happy just to be assigned, rather than fully focused on performance.
Another issue is that referees and ARs come from different countries and have never worked together before, which creates chemistry and communication problems.
Yes, especially from the European point of view, some assistant referees' mistakes are difficult to believe. It seems to be the biggest point for improvement for CAF refereeing people.
DeleteIFFHS has released women's ranking for 2025.
ReplyDeleteThe ranking:
1 Maria Sole FERRIERI CAPUTI Italy 97
2 Stephanie FRAPPART France 93
3 Ivana MARTINCIC Croatia 67
4 Tess OLOFSSON Sweden 22
5 Edina ALVES Brazil 16
6 Katia ITZEL GARCIA Mexico 15
7 Silvia GASPEROTTI Italy 13
8 Antsino TWANYANYUKWA Namibia 12
9 Desiree BLANCO Switzerland 11
Bouchra KARBOUBI Morocco 11
It's interesting to point out that one could have expected Ivana Martincic instead of Ferrieri Caputi, because the Croatian had Women's CL final + EURO semifinal (however in the last case, not fully deserved in my opinion). While Ferrieri Caputi just officiated EURO Quarterfinal and then she was fourth official in the final. To me this means that they consider officiating in a Men's top league like Italian Serie A, a very important element to take into consideration, while it's not the same for Martincic (but of course not her fault about that). Also, one should wonder how much they know in detail and maybe Martincic is even an unknown names for some voters.
All of this because it would have been hard to give another award to Frappart, EURO final referee, as she has already too much wins..
Also, it is confirmed that IFFHS is quite UEFA-Centric, giving by far less importance to other confederations.
Now, waiting for Men's release, one could easily predict Kovacs name, as it is very often the CL final referee honored with the award. Maybe Faghani with Club World Cup final will follow.
where is tori penso?
Deletecaputi is now underperforming… MH
What surprises me most is that Tori Penso, the current World Championship final referee and candidate for the men's tournament, didn't make the top 10. We all know that the IFFHS ranking is often idiosyncratic. But did Lady Penso have any controversial appearances, or was she simply less visible because there was no World Championship or Olympic Games in 2025?
DeleteAntsino Twanyanyukwa's eighth-place ranking also seems somewhat erratic to me: This lady officiated the CAF Women's U17 final this year but is otherwise completely unknown. To apply this logic to UEFA, Oleksiy Derevinskyi could be her counterpart in the men's ranking ...
DeleteWhere is Penso and Yamashita ??
DeleteShe was the referee for the final of this year's Women's Africa Cup of Nations.
Delete@Najaah: The following source doesn't even mention her appearance at this tournament:
Deletehttps://share.google/ygVsACMHn2DlitAjJ
Well, if this source doesn't cover the biggest CAF women's national team competition, I don't think it's a good source.
DeleteIFFHS AWARDS 2025 - CLEMENT TURPIN, MEN'S WORLD BEST REFEREE
ReplyDeleteIFFHS MEN’S WORLD BEST REFEREE 2025
Clement Turpin is crowned as IFFHS Men’s World Best Referee 2025 with 65 points.
For the first time, the French referee, always ranked in the World’s Top 10 since many years (rank 4 in 2024, 3 in 2023 and 2022, 6 in 2021, 8 in 2020, 7 in 2019), won the yearly ranking before the last year winner, his French colleague, François Letexier and the winner of the 2022 and 2023 Awards, Szymon Marciniak. Istvan Kovacs and Michael Oliver complete the top 5.
Clement Turpin delivered world class performances in the continental competitions, showing control, calm and outstanding positioning. It made the decision.
THE RANKING 2025
Rank Name Country Points
1 Clement TURPIN France 65
2 François LETEXIER France 55
Szymon MARCINIAK Poland 55
4 Istvan KOVACS Romania 54
5 Michael OLIVER England 53
6 Felix ZWAYER Germany 45
7 Slavko VINCIC Slovenia 41
8 Alireza FAGHANI Australia 25
Maurizio MARIANI Italy 25
10 Sandro SCHÄRER Switzerland 12
Well.....
Congratulations to mr Turpin!
DeleteSome weird things in the ranking
Sandro Scharer for what?
Delete@professionalism: This ranking often correlates with the assignments at major tournaments or finals in the respective year. Sandro Schärer officiated the Nations League final between Portugal and Spain in June. With the IFFHS, I'm never quite sure if they do much more than simply translate statistics into points. Whether they're aware that Sandro Schärer was sidelined for a long time due to injury – I don't know ...
DeleteCongratulations to Turpin, good for him of course. However, when looking at this ranking, it’s difficult to take it too seriously. To be honest, I haven’t considered the IFFHS rankings particularly relevant for quite some time.
ReplyDeleteWhat is mostly illogical for you, if I may ask !?
DeleteFor me the best referee now is Iranian referee ali reza faghani
ReplyDeleteMy ranks for the best referee in the world
ReplyDeleteAli reza faghani
Ramon abatti
Cesar ramos
😂😂😂
DeleteMy ranks for the best blogger:
DeleteAh med
Ah med
Ah med
It is clear that IFFS award biased for the Europe referees like a prize european
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to think differently, but my ideas and concepts of a referee's value are completely different from yours. The best referees today are in Europe; their technical and tactical preparation is clearly visible. Then there are some Americans, including Tori Penso, Mexicans, Caribbean referees, Argentinians, and Brazilians. I rated Alireza Faghani at the Russian World Cup; he was fantastic, but in front of him was a legendary figure (Nestor), so he didn't make it to the final, which he would have deserved otherwise.
ReplyDeleteEvery year, the IFFHS ranking is released, and I disagree with it—sometimes strongly. This year, I agree with the top of the ranking; the French team wins easily, and if I may say, this is thanks to the work of a great coach, Garibian, who, besides them, has built other strong personalities that the current successor of Garibian is successfully utilizing. If I could, I would replace the Polish referee with Oliver, and for me, the podium is correct. My compliments to Turpin, a calm referee who officiates with a smile, and with that smile he makes others do what he wants. That is what it means to be a referee. Letexier is the worthy successor to Turpin, a referee who evaluates a match technically better than anyone else. He is the top European referee of the future, along with Oliver.
After absolutely Boring first half, now OFR in EGY - RSA. Possible penalty for careless / reckless arm.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about the OFR?
ReplyDeleteI think it's wrong. No way this was reckless. For me, play on is the expected decision.
Big calls for at the end of first half for Pacifique Ndabihawenimana.
ReplyDeletePenalty after OFR, assessed as reckless arm (YC issued):
https://streamain.com/en/lUUuiAZbmp7o501/watch
Second YC to Egypt:
https://streamff.com/v/18c4507a
Second YC correct for reckless stepping, but called with delay clearly by fourth official Samuel Uwikunda who couldn't be closer to the incident than he really was.
Then, about the penalty in my opinion no more than careless in case you want to whistle it. Reckless to me is a mistake. Salah exaggerated the contact. The problem is that you can't deny the action by defender so the call is not wrong, but to me better to avoid that. Italian commentators said that it was given afer OFR because the fouled player was Salah, otherwise...
One should also wonder what referee exactly saw live, before being called, to talk about a possible clear and obvious mistake.
In 62' a correct and very tight offside call by AR1, at least shoulder of attacker was ahead, to follow a possible penalty for a challenge by keeper, there was no need to analyze it.
ReplyDeleteOn my goodness, how long can this check take?
ReplyDeleteI think we have the right decision in the end, but far far far too long, I can only assume there were a lot of inconclusive angles for in/outside. Inside, but not punishable
DeleteNow that they arrived at the correct decision, I’m less worried that they took so long. However, not a good sight to have all players and referees standing around for so long
DeleteAnother crucial moment in 87'.
ReplyDeleteFree kick to South Africa at the edge of penalty area for handball.
One should discuss whether it was arm as support or not.
After a very long VAR check, the referee was invited to monitor but it seems as the process by VAR, at least according to the moment in which the graphics appeared , started for some reasons very later after the incident. In the end I think they assessed arm as support.
Far too long a check. In the end for me it's the right decision. Supporting arm and not a punishable handball.
DeleteIronically the sort of situation where an on field announcement of the decision would be useful
Italian commentators don't know that a perpendicular and stretched arm to the ground during a slide is not punishable and is play on.
ReplyDeleteSportitalia is not DAZN :)
Delete1) The final decisions in all three key episodes were correct*. Sy, after a (way) too long time, repeated what Dankert did in Liverpool-Real with the handball - and was right so to do, even more than the Anfield situation, this was never a punishable handball. Uwikunda did VERY well with the SYC, it seems Ndabihawenimana didn't even detect the foul himself, you can see the Rwandan reserve referee immediately hit the push-to-talk button, he (Uwikunda) completely took charge of that scene and was absolutely right, the step on foot was too late and thus reckless. The big problem comes from Sy's OFR, which technically was right (careless striking offence), but will be deemed as a huge controversy medially and a 'pro-Salah' decision. It isn't necessary to officiate (as VAR) aiming for 100% accuracy and in UEFA this on-field review would never have come to pass; hence, correct with an asterisk.
ReplyDelete2) Very bad and unfair appointment! As I said in days previous, CAF already maxxed out the big names, and paid no attention to these top clashes on MD2, apparently treating them as an afterthought. Ndabihawenimana is a good referee, but his style is a bit passive/shy, and clearly this match should have been siphoned off to one of the leading African referees (like Sy, VAR for this match, and referee instead of Egypt-ZIMBABWE). The other revealed assignments for the big MD2 clashes are perhaps even more dubious: 29yo Mefire thrown in at the deep end with the hosts, Benbraham promoted from VAR-only after the unfortunate fate currently befalling Gamouh despite his (Benbraham's) quite disasterous work on the field in AFCON 2021, and finally Boubou Traore, who did not really distinguish himself in Ghana-Comoros at the aforementioned AFCON either. It's a pity, because one could have used Ndabihawenimana quite well with a clear strategy, but it rather seems like CAF are lacking that in the current refereeing admin.
3) The vice versa of Benbraham being given Senegal-DRC, why are CAF continually appointing top referees as VARs like we are still at WC2018?(!) There is obviously nuance for how to do this, for instance how Laryea was used very skillfully from an assigning perspective in the Ivorian AFCON, but again this seems to be missing in this tournament.
Just a clarification, Sy was not VAR for this game (EGY - RSA) but Dickens Mimisa Nyagrowa from Kenya was in charge.
DeleteAh 😀 indeed, Sy is doing Tunisia-Nigeria as VAR. So, there is even less excuse for the Kenyan!
DeleteWhat happened to Gamouh?
Delete@DayStare9 He's been reportedly diagnosed with a serious illness shortly before the tournament and had to forcefully withdraw as a result.
DeleteThe referee from Mauritius, whose physical appearance is not too different from that of his well-known compatriot Rajindraparsad Seechurn, is sent to the OFR in the early minutes of the game to assess a step on the foot prior to Comoros goal, the goal is subsequently disallowed following the OFR, but the player not booked (according to what we could see).
ReplyDeleteI think Assistant 2 from São Tomé is not prioritizing correctly where to look; the focus is wrong.
DeleteThe extremely long VAR check and then OFR (it lasted 7 minutes) to revoke a handball call in Egypt - South Africa:
ReplyDeletehttps://streambug.org/cv/8f922d
We have a very tricky handball incident right at the end of first half in Morocco -Mali. Touch with arm while the player was standing up, after lying on the ground. One should say that arm was not used as support anymore, for me you can give it because player could have avoided the contact with more attention. I can't blame the VAR and the final decision, penalty. However, more grey area than clear penalty.
ReplyDeleteVery, very good first half from the 29-year-old Cameroonian. The match is very physical, very athletic, with many strong tackles. He's always close and always credible. By the way, he has a record — he's the youngest African referee to officiate a match in the Africa Cup of Nations. I find that very interesting; let's see if he can handle the pressures of the second half and how he'll behave with the goalkeeper and the Malian time-wasting.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the penalty is correctly awarded; the hand makes a movement towards the ball, not the arm but the palm of the hand. It's deliberate. Could the referee have seen it? I have doubts.
Very clear penalty; he should have seen it live because it's very obvious.
Delete2nd OFR for Mefire, I think he will be very disappointed with that one...
ReplyDeleteShame for him, I thought he was having a good game, but two OFRs in any game, and especially the 2nd one is very hard to forgive. He for sure has the future ahead of him still though, even if this might be the last we see of him in this tournament
DeleteMorocco penalty: https://streamin.me/v/ae35fa38
DeleteMali penalty: https://streamin.me/v/8f26788d
The first half award was a good use of VAR (only with replays could you be certain that this was a deliberate handball) but to play on from the second incident is quite hard to accept. Overall: a) very good fitness and exceptional movement, always in motion trying to find the best angle; b) some very good decisions in the goings-on of the game but also some poor ones, imo the biggest area for development is to make his decisions more PREDICTABLE; c) not-existent management of even really clear dissenting behaviour, this cost him some match control leading to the confrontation before Mali were awarded a penalty; finally, d) it should said that this was a very intense match, amongst the most difficult so far (9 cautions issued).
Very harsh game for the young Cameroon ref Mefire. The first PK after OFR is very positive teamwork with tunisian VAR. Very difficult to spot on live. But, no excuse for the second one with blatant foul for Mali and PK not whistled. VAR’s correction is obviously good but ref had to see it live. Finally, very difficult for him but he seemed to a have a great future especially with great fitness abilities.
DeleteMikael W, I hope you realize that judge Morocco-Mali is not the same as judge Zambia-Comoros, so you, who watch and judge, need to adjust your mindset and understand the situations. And if there is a bit of dissent (which you mention but I didn't see, for example), you can also understand it and drown it in the difficulty of the match. Remove the penalty that he should have seen on the field (poor positioning, he was behind and with little perspective), I saw a very responsive, calm referee, never chasing the situations. Interpret well and award three yellow cards in three minutes at the start of the second half, all correct. I saw, besides an excellent athletic performance, also good tactical reading and the ability to understand the dynamics and rhythm. Are we not seeing him in this tournament anymore? I hope to be able to see him again
DeleteWaiting for the ugandan lady referee Botswana vs Benin today
ReplyDeleteThe Italian commentator didn't realize that the referee is a woman.
ReplyDeleteIn 13' a very mandatory YC issued for a more than reckless challenge.
ReplyDeleteRC is possible, but maybe the hitting point can save the player.
RC by Ugandan referee would have been accepted as well.
I disagree, yellow card is not supportable here. Botswanan player jumps into the challenge at full speed, leading with his studs, over the ball. Yes he gets “lucky” that the point of contact wasn’t severe, but this is still a very dangerous challenge, red card must be given.
Delete13', evaluation of the disciplinary measure is correct.
ReplyDeleteCAF instructor who trains referees on how their movement should be during the attacking phase of the teams is truly excellent, compliments. I see logical and modern movements, with accelerations to shift from right to left and vice versa, all accompanied by dynamism and an enviable athletic form. (Apart from yesterday's Mauritian referee). Some referees have a stance typical of true middle-distance runners, usually African.
ReplyDelete28', should have been a booking for reckless action, late raised leg with certain force, the referee gave a verbal warning, however, considering also the previous YC, one should draw conclusion of a rather high threshold for yellow cards.
ReplyDeleteMi piacerebbe che ITA REF partecipasse alla discussione !!
ReplyDelete45', another mandatory, "dark" YC. The Ugandan referee gave it. She was consistent with this approach. The two cards she gave were orange. The one she spared was a step below, a "full yellow".
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you Chefren
DeleteShe is very alert about potential head collisions, by far more alert on this aspect than many other referees.
ReplyDeleteEven if we can highlight the shortcomings of African referees, it’s clear that from a physical standpoint, the referees are very fit, just like the Ugandan female referee.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, the Ugandan referee played a good game despite some mistakes on foul detection but with a clear disciplinary line during 95 mn. Good dynamism and fitness abilities and aware of rules things on pitch (blooding). Overall good surprise IMO.
ReplyDeleteTwo yellow cards issued in the closing stages of the match, both correct decisions for reckless challenges. The overall impression is rather positive, of course, the match was what it was, nothing special. The real question is whether she might be given a second appointment to gain further experience, perhaps a MD3 game that is less important than the others.
ReplyDeleteI would add as remark that there is a great focus by all referees on added time, with a very “Collina-style” approach.
Agree.
DeleteGood first half for Jalal Jayed on UGA-TAN. Only one YC at 45+4' (reckless challenge). Easy match so far.
ReplyDeleteOT
ReplyDeleteMatch that will probably end with controversies ,but should not is the one between Udinese and Lazio.
We saw 7 cards,but pretty inconsistent Colombo,especially in 1st half.
Key incident will be potential handball before Lazio's goal,but imo everything was clear.
Colombo's good performance in Udinese-Lazio was unfortunately ruined in the 96th minute by a goal that was wrongly not disallowed (the VAR also bears a large part of the responsibility). It has now become impossible to watch a match in Italy without crucial mistakes: there is no game that is not decided by the referees.
ReplyDeleteP.S. For me, it is horrible to disallow goals like this, but the rules are clear
Very lenient approach by Morocco referee : unbelievable to let unpunished this blatant dive at 76’ and forgot double hands after to give attacker a ridiculous corner…So-so performance by ref especially in foul detection and disciplinary line…
ReplyDeleteBut now….very good and brave decision to give PK after pulling with YC. He saved his performance here IMO.
ReplyDeleteTanzania penalty: https://streamin.me/v/9d7daa72
ReplyDeleteUganda penalty: https://streamin.me/v/9868e2d4
What a game! Besides Jayed not sensing the changed nature of the match after the first goal and starting to act in a more strict manner (here I would agree with what Refereeanalyst wrote: too blatant dive in 76' and not given YCs in 61' (mandatory) and later 63'), I would say a very good performance by the Maroc ref who got both key calls spot on, quite impressively too I would add.
Agreed, the Tanzania penalty highlights the importance of the dynamic movement near the penalty area as referenced by comments above. He wouldn’t have had an angle to see the handball if not for the energetic sprint across.
DeleteLazio with hige protests after the match,they even showed plenty videos on their official social network pages.
ReplyDeleteI never saw the replay but it looked like blatant play on. Both handballs in extremely natural positions. So what are they ptotesting about? Goal not scored immediately after touching the hand/arm.
DeleteVery good first half by Malian ref Traoré with a good YC for Osimhen after he provoked tunisian bench. But sorry, this is the second time that referee is heavily touched by a player (Nigeria gk) when ref booked the scorer. I think that’s never with Turpin, Letexier, Marciniak or Makkelie, a player can touch referee like that. Inacceptable !
ReplyDeleteWow,now a very bad not given advantage.
ReplyDeleteSad for referee here. Very bad action : nightmare one with big advantage and…dark YC for…goalkeeper again ! Match ruined for ref…
DeleteProbably RC missed cause of his too early whistle...
ReplyDeleteUnforgivable mistake by Traore to not allow advantage when Tunisia would have clear GSO
ReplyDeleteYes,but then again why was GK not awarded YC still?I mean he stull made that tackle and injured player..
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, what the goalkeeper did was a clear SFP - in annoyance at the Tunisian continuing to play on despite the whistle, the Nigerian keeper chopped his opponent down with excessive force. Additionally, the original foul by Nigeria no6 was ‘dark YC’ at the very least.
DeleteWell, my premature criticism of Sy’s VAR-ing proves prescient 24hrs later 😀.
ReplyDeleteI guess you could say it is sensible to award the penalty having ‘damaged’ that team earlier in the match if you conclude it a 50-50 decision, but in the LotG there isn’t really any case to defend deeming this handball as punishable (“expected ball” would be the only possible argument).
DeleteOsimhen booking
Deletehttps://streamin.me/v/88f20673
Missed advantage/card(s)
https://streamin.me/v/3b90b4b8
Penalty after OFR
https://streamin.me/v/e9961e6a
Where do you see the names of the referees appointed a day or two before the matches? The sources I use (Wikipedia mostly) don’t seem to always list them in advance.
DeleteCAF channels on social media, the only reliable sources for that.
DeleteTime added :7 mins.
ReplyDeleteGoalkeeper was booked,time delay everywhere.
End whistled:97:12.
Yep.
We had definitely some interesting games yesterday.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, after the first one, I couldn't watch the rest.
My comments, with a special thank for the clips.
About Uganda - Tanzania, I want also to publish two situations, reported above, in addition to the two penalties whisted by Moroccan referee.
61' Reckless, very cynical foul, missed YC
https://streambug.org/cv/51fcf1
76' Simulation, missed booking
https://streambug.org/cv/055a91
In the end as observer, I think one can be rather harsh more about the missed YC in 61', while in 76', being play on expected decision, YC for simulation is seen as something more (but definitely to be issued here). Then, two very good penalty calls will make surely a positive if not more performance. A pity he didn't book on that occasions.
To follow, sorry but for me unacceptable what we can see in Nigeria - Tunisia with that missed advantage, referee just focused on the zone where the foul happens and not having any idea of how game would develop, not even thinking about that. If one wants to introduce an argument, we should say that this is the paramount example in which you can understand why the African referees should look at UEFA with their very often pedantic, but surely adequate guidance about how to manage a game. Also, if you study the reaction of the referee, rather angry with players even when he noticed what could have happened without whistle, here you can get the difference with other referees who can make this mistake, but having in mind to apply such guidelines. No reaction at all, no "apologize" (a referee shouldn't apologize indeed, but he could have a certain approach after a rather admitted mistake by himself). So, all that to say it wasn't definitely at all in the abilities of the Malian official. This mistake alone should honestly cost the rest of the tournamentin normal conditions, UEFA wouldn't accept something like that, but maybe CAF will have different ideas. We will see. About the rest, very good with Osimhen booking, a player used to have such reactions, I think I'm allowed to say that because he is very well known after having played in Italy. The penalty in the end seems OK for me, however in a different read from Mikael (as always, a pleasure to read!), I think that, without clear guidelines about such incidents (arms used in that way, but still open), one is forced to report penalty to referee if not whistled, because the arguments for having a discussion after a possible PLAY ON by VAR would be big. Nevertheless, maybe this is just once again written by himself with "Italian glasses...".
Yesterday, I mentioned the CAF tactician, saying that some referees I have seen in action are following his directives. Regarding the serious mistake made last night in the Nigeria-Tunisia match, I can say that the referee was wrong because he was immediately drawn to the severity of the foul and his eagerness to be active, and because he didn't look around beforehand to gain a tactical reading and try to anticipate developments. On the other hand, I saw this approach many times in the Algerian referee, whom I also appreciated: he anticipated a lot and used his gaze to study the positioning of the attackers and defenders, which is what modern football and refereeing require.
DeleteAnd about Udinese - Lazio, here a clip with highlight on the two handballs before 1-1 by Udinese in the ver last minute of the game.
ReplyDeletehttps://streambug.org/cv/98208b
Extremely unlucky circumstance for Colombo, who was coming from a very good Super Cup officiating.
All is about the concept of "immediate", according to LotG, if a player commits handball and then he scores, disallowed goal regardless of other assessments, but in this case after the touch by arm, and before the goal, there were 9 seconds. For sure it wasn't immediate in the real meaning of the term and for this reason I would say VAR decided to stay silent, but as we don't have a given exact time as reference for knowing whether a goal can belong or not to a category, it's just up to IFAB to change the rule, being more accurate about that. Also, in most of the times this decision is made on handballs that you would never whistle (both in this clip belong to this category), so we should really wonder, to avoid controversy, what we are doing? Introducing more controversy.
This was a very unfortunate incident, both because of the timing, the circumstances and the team involved (every Lazio match has been marred by controversial incidents for over a month now). However, the real problem is not this specific incident, but the fact that almost all Serie A matches are now decided by serious refereeing mistakes: for example, yesterday in Torino-Cagliari a clear penalty was not awarded. This year, there is truly no salvation in Serie A: mistakes, many mistakes, always mistakes, only mistakes.
DeleteAlways mistakes and only mistakes is a little harsh I guess.
DeleteWe all know that Italian refereeing is in a crisis but we shouldn’t forget that they still go out there every weekend and try to always decide correctly. Some situations are really unlucky and complicated though, so mistakes can happen and must happen.
”Immediately” is max 3 seconds and that’s with margin. Absolutely never a handball call in this situation.
Delete@VG Obviously, it is very difficult to set a precise limit. In Serie A this year a goal scored 5 seconds after a handball was disallowed: 5 seconds is immediacy, but 9 seconds is not? What is the time limit? Or perhaps other parameters are important (whether the player controls the ball and shoots, whether he has to dribble past opponents, etc.)? Unfortunately, this was a very controversial incident regardless of the final decision
Delete@Jojo Obviously, referees take to the pitch trying to do their best, why shouldn't they? They are professionals paid to do this job, there is no reason to referee badly on purpose. Unfortunately, since I have been following football, this is by far the worst year in terms of performance (considering that many mistakes are corrected by VAR) in Italy. One could argue that Italy has had perhaps the best referees in the world for many years, and therefore the current referees are now being judged more harshly than necessary, but the sharp decline is evident
Does anyone know today's assignments?
ReplyDeleteThe Tunisian referee officiates from 30 meters !
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that he is in tactical confusion, clearly struggling.
DeleteVery good penalty call. https://streamin.me/v/618a7f59
DeleteThe referees (particularly the Sudanese VAR) made a very good decision in +92' not to award Mario Lemina a penalty, I think the situation could have fooled some VMOs in this tournament. Also in added time, good offside call by Hassani to disallow a goal.
Deletehttps://streambug.org/cv/f11e28
DeleteNo review in the 92nd minute for an Equatorial Guinea penalty?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this was a very light (not even careless) touch after no10 had already kicked the ball wide, but it does seem that a minute later that Sudan ought to have been awarded a spot kick for a rugby-type challenge inside the EQG penalty area.
DeleteI will have to re-look at videos of both incidents, hence my phrasing as a question rather than a statement :)
DeleteVery aggressive behavior by Equatorial Guinea players against Congolese referee, following a penalty area incident in 92'. They strongly asked for an OFR. Not issuing a single YC, at least for #10, was absolutely unacceptable. The referee ended the match leaving an extyremely poor impression after this event.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the comment about dissent. But not all for the match with I think a good performance by congolese referee. Fit and alert. Some inconstancies in foul detection but overall good match.
DeleteNvoutou's problems started in this regard when he did not expel EQG no15 in 87' for extremely aggressive protests which far crossed the line for acceptable conduct. A quite devilish appointment by CAF to send in this debutant Congolese referee for a must-win tie between two extremely difficult sides - Nvoutou still has a lot to learn, but in principle I saw a good and actually talented referee today. He comes across as quite a tough guy, and one can be thankful for that, because otherwise the scenes at the end of the game could have been very nasty indeed.
DeleteIn this tournament, there are matches with a very low technical level and some very complicated and difficult games. The appointed referees follow this ranking. It's hard to compare the refereeing performances; they seem like two different worlds.
ReplyDeleteSome of the easy, or even very easy, matches become difficult because the referees' actions contribute to making them difficult.
DeleteWell done Daniel Laryea - quite absurd OFR by Nyagrowa, who should not work another game in this tournament.
ReplyDeleteCrazy OFR from Yiembe in ALG-BFA, despite the injury this tackle is at very most a yellow card (which Laryea, thankfully, limits himself to).
ReplyDeleteThe logical consequence of (appointing VARs who clearly aren’t good enough, and) the stupid worldwide instructions which only consider hitting point and no other factors - no OFR for the horrendous lunge in Nabadda’s game yesterday compared to this intervention underlines the absurdity rather perfectly!
DeleteThe quality of VARing at this tournament seems totally dire - agreed, with the lack of OFR yesterday compared to the one here today, the juxtaposition is comical.
DeleteYC is a perfect valuation
ReplyDeleteThe Burkina players are a bit too energetic—two yellow cards in 15 minutes for reckless fouls. The referee needs to start considering his decisions.
DeleteThe Burkina player's excessive competitive spirit led to a rash decision; the defender was impulsive and failed to realize that the attacker was moving against him. It was a avoidable foul by the defender, yet a penalty should be awarded and supported.
DeleteThere was one a few minutes before the PK that was also at-least-borderline reckless.
DeleteI don’t really like this penalty decision either - the defender’s foot is already planted and the attacker creates the contact by kicking the defender’s planted leg.
27’ rather nonexistent YC for Bennacer, this is quickly becoming a poor performance.
DeletePenalty to Algeria, big call now for the referee from Ghana.
ReplyDeleteFirst impression: more a collision by attacker toward defender than a clear action / movement of the latter that would fully justify the call, nevertheless, not a clear and obvious mistakes, there are elements on both point of view, but to me not a 100% situation.
My thoughts exactly.
DeleteOne thing that cannot be disputed is the physical presence and dynamism of the Ghanaian ref. In the recent attacking move of Algeria, he was impressive.
DeleteNice application of the 8-seconds rule before the half time
ReplyDeleteThe mentioned incident right at the end of Equatorial Guinea - Sudan, management of dissent - mobbing and penalty area incident. Rather quick check by VAR, no OFR.
ReplyDelete87'
https://streambug.org/cv/0d606d
90'+2
https://streambug.org/cv/fbdf5a
Definitely penalty in 90’+2’, this is a proper trip and not a light touch. Only debate should be if it’s a YC for DOGSO, or no card due to questionable control of the ball.
DeleteJérson Emiliano dos Santos ANG désigné 1er assistant
ReplyDeleteImportant info that, thank you!
DeleteThe referee is a bit too positioned on the passing lanes, causing an obstruction
ReplyDeleteEven at the 36th minute, the referee fouls Fofana; that's not acceptable.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful match!
Delete37' CIV-CMR possible RC (SFP), YC given
ReplyDeleteAlgeria - Burkina Faso
ReplyDelete7' OFR for a possible RC, final decision YC
https://streambug.org/cv/a7caba
23' penalty call
https://streamain.com/en/DHBjfnBOVJE5Dfj/watch
27' wrong YC
https://streambug.org/cv/cb5145
For me, rather unnecessary VAR intervention in 10', YC is OK, but no YC was a miss by referee.
If someone is interested how VAR system is going to be used at the WC... It's definitely too much for me...
ReplyDeletehttps://streambug.org/cv/0222ce
The referees for today are still not known
ReplyDeleteIssa SY SEN ,
ReplyDeleteMAR ZAM
ZimRsa: Kechaf
DeleteAngEgy: Kpan
ComMli: Mahamat
The red card in COM-MLI has me reflecting on an earlier comment from Mikael: “The logical consequence of the stupid worldwide instructions which only consider hitting point and no other factors.” Perfectly represented by this play where the defender wins the ball first and then the attacker kicks the defender’s studs!
ReplyDeleteYou know I like to analyze the mistakes and to understand why they happen. As for VAR, it's clear why: most of times the VAR look only at a detail (it can be the hitting point) and they don't consider all the rest. That's valid also for handballs.
DeleteI know it's hard to say, but those who act in this way don't have in my opinion an expected knowledge of football when they officiate a game, especially from the famous room and not on the field (where one can justify more a mistake).