Referee assignments for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Inter-confederation Play-Offs.
Path 1
Semifinal
Semifinal
Estadio Akron, Zapopan (MEX)
NEW - CALEDONIA - JAMAICA
Referee: Gustavo Tejera URU
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolás Taran URU
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Barreiro URU
Fourth Official: Cristian Garay CHI
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Lara CHI
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Antionio García URU
Path 2
Semifinal
Semifinal
Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe (MEX)
BOLIVIA - SURINAME
Referee: Alireza Faghani IRN/AUS
Assistant Referee 1: George Lakrindis AUS
Assistant Referee 2: James Lindsay AUS
Fourth Official: Mustapha Ghorbal ALG
Video Assistant Referee: Fedayi San SUI
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Ivan Bebek CRO
Well, it doesn't seem to me that Collina is being that original. Too much predictable. Even before the start of the World Cup you can already notice an overuse of Faghani, and then Bebek as VAR. I think we will see many appointments for both at World Cup.
ReplyDeletePersonally I have nothing against them, but I didn't expect someone like Collina to be so stuck on his preferences… For now it almost seems pointless to comment… but we'll see what future tells us.
Faghani was quite predictable indeed.
DeleteHowever, Tejera is more surprising, I think. There would have been more established CONMEBOL referees like Sampaio and Tello.
Ghorbal's appointment could be seen as compensation, if the other four confederations get one game each. However, they can't really plan with a CONCACAF referee due to Jamaica and Suriname possibly playing in the finals.
So, two UEFA referees UEFA+CONMEBOL seem the options for the last two games.
On a side note, San's appointment makes a UEFA PO SF less likely (but not impossible) for Schärer.
A question for Australian readers: will Shchetinin-Beecham or Lakrindis-Lindsay be Faghani's linesmen at the World Cup? Unless I missed something, there didn't seem to be any cause to ditch the first duo, with whom Faghani worked the Club WC final?
ReplyDelete