Friday, 22 May 2026

Referee appointments for international friendlies - May / June 2026

Many friendlies have been planned as preparation for 2026 FIFA World Cup. Here referees' assignments. 


Saturday 23 May 2026


04:00 CET - Puebla (Estadio Cuahtémoc)
MEXICO - GHANA
Referee: Selvin Antonio Brown Chavarría HON
Assistant Referee 1: Gerson Daniel Orellana Martínez HON
Assistant Referee 2: Roney Armando Salinas Valladares HON
Fourth Official: José Javier Valladares Canales HON
Video Assistant Referee: Diego Abraham Ojer González GUA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Yasith Monge Acuña CRC

Tuesday 26 May 2026

20:30 CET - London, ENG (The Valley)
NIGERIA - ZIMBABWE
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Wednesday 27 May 2026

20:30 CET - London, ENG (The Valley)
JAMAICA - INDIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Thursday 28 May 2026

14:00 CET - Cairo (Misr Stadium)
EGYPT - RUSSIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

20:45 CET - Dublin (Aviva Stadium)
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND - QATAR
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Friday 29 May 2026

14:00 CET - Antalya, TUR (Mardan Spor Kompleksi)
IR IRAN - GAMBIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

18:00 CET - Girona, ESP (Estadi Montilivi)
IRAQ - ANDORRA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

20:30 CET - Sarajevo (Olimpijski stadion "Asim Ferhatović Hase")
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - NORTH MACEDONIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Saturday 30 May 2026

14:00 CET - Glasgow (Hampden Park)
SCOTLAND - CURAÇAO
Referee: Goga Kikacheishvili GEO
Assistant Referee 1: Davit Akhvlediani GEO
Assistant Referee 2: Davit Gabisonia GEO
Fourth Official: Bakari Bregadze GEO
Video Assistant Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili GEO
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jeneri Khorava GEO

Sunday 31 May 2026

01:30 CET - Harrison, USA (Sports Illustrated Stadium)
ECUADOR - SAUDI ARABIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

03:00 CET - Provo, USA (BYU South Field)
SOUTH KOREA - TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

04:00 CET - Pasadena, USA (Rose Bowl)
MEXICO - AUSTRALIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

12:25 CET - Tokyo (MUFG Stadium)
JAPAN - ICELAND
Referee: Damian Kos POL
Assistant Referee 1: Arkadiusz Kamil Wójcik POL
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Karasewicz POL
Fourth Official:

15:00 CET - St. Gallen (Kybunpark)
SWITZERLAND - JORDAN
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

16:00 CET - Prague (epet Arena)
CZECHIA - KOSOVO
Referee: Michal Očenáš SVK
Assistant Referee 1: Tobiáš Pacák SVK
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Jekkel SVK
Fourth Official: Jakub Wulkan CZE

16:30 CET - Lisbon, POR (Estádio do Restelo)
CABO VERDE - SERBIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

17:30 CET - Wrocław (Tarczyński Arena Wrocław)
POLAND - UKRAINE
Referee: Filip Glova SVK
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Poláček SVK
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Bednár SVK
Fourth Official: Lukáš Dzivjak SVK
Video Assistant Referee: Matej Choreň SVK
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Marián Ruc SVK

20:45 CET - Mainz (Mewa Arena)
GERMANY - FINLAND
Referee: Matheus Delgado Candançan BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Victor Hugo Imazu dos Santos BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Alex Ang Ribeiro BRA
Fourth Official: Paulo Cesar Zanovelli da Silva BRA
Video Assistant Referee: Rodrigo D'Alonso Ferreira BRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Rodrigo Guarizo Ferreira do Amaral BRA

21:30 CET - Charlotte (Bank of America Stadium)
USA - SENEGAL
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

23:30 CET - Rio de Janeiro (Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho)
BRAZIL - PANAMA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Monday 1 June 2026

18:00 CET - Plovdiv (Stadion Hristo Botev)
BULGARIA - MONTENEGRO
Referee: Ioánnis Papadópoulos GRE
Assistant Referee 1: Andréas Meïndanás GRE
Assistant Referee 2: Polychrónis Kostarás GRE
Fourth Official: Fótios Polychrónis GRE

18:00 CET - Dunajská Streda (MOL Aréna)
SLOVAKIA - MALTA
Referee: Mihály Káprály HUN
Assistant Referee 1: Péter Kóbor HUN
Assistant Referee 2: Theodoros Georgiou HUN
Fourth Official: Bálint Kišš SVK

19:00 CET - Oslo (Ullevaal Stadion)
NORWAY - SWEDEN
Referee: Balázs Berke HUN
Assistant Referee 1: Balázs Buzás HUN
Assistant Referee 2: Balázs Szert HUN
Fourth Official: Bence Csonka HUN
Video Assistant Referee: Ferenc Karakó HUN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Eszter Urbán HUN

19:30 CET - Istanbul (Chobani Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi)
TÜRKİYE - NORTH MACEDONIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

20:45 CET - Vienna (Ernst-Happel-Stadion)
AUSTRIA - TUNISIA
Referee: Jérémie Pignard FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Aurélien Drouet FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Alexis Auger FRA
Fourth Official: Stéphanie Frappart FRA
Video Assistant Referee: Bastien Dechepy FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Nicolas Rainville FRA

Tuesday 2 June 2026

01:00 CET - Bogotá (Estadio Nemesio Camacho)
COLOMBIA - COSTA RICA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

03:00 CET - Edmonton (Commonwealth Stadium)
CANADA - UZBEKISTAN
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

18:00 CET - Rijeka (Stadion HNK Rijeka)
CROATIA - BELGIUM
Referee: Rade Obrenovič SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Jure Praprotnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Grega Kordež SVN
Fourth Official: Ante Čulina CRO

19:00 CET - Tbilisi (Mikheil Meskhis Stadioni)
GEORGIA - ROMANIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

19:00 CET - Rabat (Stade Prince Moulay Abdallah)
MOROCCO - MADAGASCAR
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

20:45 CET - Cardiff (Cardiff City Stadium)
WALES - GHANA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Wednesday 3 June 2026

02:00 CET - Fort Lauderdale, USA (Chase Stadium)
HAITI - NEW ZEALAND
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

19:00 CET - Gibraltar (Europa Point Stadium)
GIBRALTAR - BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
Referee: Antoine Paul Chiaramonti AND
Assistant Referee 1: Joan Guiu Serra AND
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Braga Gonçalves AND
Fourth Official: José Antonio Delgado García GIB

20:00 CET - Tirana (Air Albania Stadium)
ALBANIA - ISRAEL
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

20:00 CET - Liège, BEL (Stade Maurice Dufrasne)
DENMARK - DR CONGO
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

20:45 CET - Luxembourg (Stade de Luxembourg)
LUXEMBOURG - ITALY
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

20:45 CET - Rotterdam (Stadion Feijenoord 'De Kuip')
NETHERLANDS - ALGERIA
Referee: Jakob Semler AUT
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Höfler AUT
Assistant Referee 2: Alexander Borucki AUT
Fourth Official: Christian-Petru Ciochirca AUT
Video Assistant Referee: Alan Kijas AUT
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Josef Spurny AUT

20:45 CET - Warsaw (PGE Narodowy)
POLAND - NIGERIA
Referee: Marian Alexandru Barbu ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Mircea Mihail Grigoriu ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Marius Florin Badea ROU
Fourth Official: Rareș George Vidican ROU
Video Assistant Referee: Cătălin Sorin Popa ROU
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Marcel Bîrsan ROU

Thursday 4 June 2026

02:45 CET - Panama City (Estadio Rommel Fernández)
PANAMA - DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

03:00 CET - Sandy, USA (America First Field)
SOUTH KOREA - EL SALVADOR
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

18:00 CET - Cádiz, ESP (Estadio Municipal de La Línea de la Concepción)
NORTHERN IRELAND - GUINEA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

18:00 CET - Ljubljana (Stadion Stožice)
SLOVENIA - CYPRUS
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

19:00 CET - Encamp (Estadi FAF)
ANDORRA - LIECHTENSTEIN
Referee: Javier Alberola Rojas ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Álvarez Fernández ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Alfredo Rodríguez Moreno ESP
Fourth Official: Víctor García Verdura ESP

19:00 CET - Solna (Strawberry Arena)
SWEDEN - GREECE
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

21:00 CET - A Coruña (Estadio Abanca Riazor)
SPAIN - IRAQ
Referee: Florian Badstübner GER
Assistant Referee 1: Christof Günsch GER
Assistant Referee 2: Sven Waschitzki-Günther GER
Fourth Official: Tobias Reichel GER

21:10 CET - Nantes (Stade de la Beaujoire)
FRANCE - CÔTE D'IVOIRE
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Friday 5 June 2026

02:00 CET - New Jersey, USA (Red Bull Arena)
CZECHIA - GUATEMALA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

04:00 CET - Toluca (Estadio Nemesio Díez)
MEXICO - SERBIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

18:00 CET - Minsk (Nacyjanaĺny futboĺny stadyjon)
BELARUS - SYRIA
Referee: Əliyar Ağayev AZE
Assistant Referee 1: Zeynal Zeynalov AZE
Assistant Referee 2: Akif Əmirəli AZE
Fourth Official: Ihar Šumilaŭ BLR

18:00 CET - Tbilisi (Mikheil Meskhis Stadioni)
GEORGIA - BAHRAIN
Referee: Duncan Nicolson SCO
Assistant Referee 1: Calum Spence SCO
Assistant Referee 2: Jonathan Bell SCO
Fourth Official: Ryan Lee SCO

18:30 CET - Košice (Košická futbalová aréna)
SLOVAKIA - MONTENEGRO
Referee: Wojciech Myć POL
Assistant Referee 1: Bartosz Heinig POL
Assistant Referee 2: Marek Arys POL
Fourth Official: Lukáš Dzivjak SVK

19:00 CET - Chișinău (Stadionul Zimbru)
MOLDOVA - BULGARIA
Referee: Tural Qurbanov AZE
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2: Cəmil Quliyev AZE
Fourth Official: Roman Jitari MDA

19:00 CET - Volgograd (Volgograd Arena)
RUSSIA - BURKINA FASO
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

19:00 CET - Serravalle (San Marino Stadium)
SAN MARINO - BANGLADESH
Referee: Walter Altmann AUT
Assistant Referee 1: Robert Steinacher AUT
Assistant Referee 2: Mattias Hartl AUT
Fourth Official: Michele Beltrano SMR
Video Assistant Referee: Harald Lechner AUT
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Stefan Pichler AUT

19:45 CET - Budapest (Puskás Aréna)
HUNGARY - FINLAND
Referee: Ante Čulina CRO
Assistant Referee 1: Kristijan Novosel CRO
Assistant Referee 2: Dario Kolarević CRO
Fourth Official: Dario Bel CRO
Video Assistant Referee: Mario Zebec CRO
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Fran Jović CRO

20:00 CET - Szombathely, HUN (Haladás Sportkomplexum)
AZERBAIJAN - MALTA
Referee: 
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Saturday 6 June 2026

00:15 CET - Asunción (Estadio Defensores del Chaco)
PARAGUAY - NICARAGUA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

01:30 CET - Montreal (Stade Saputo)
CANADA - REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

02:00 CET - Miami, USA (Nu Stadium)
HAITI - PERU
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

15:00 CET - Brussels (Koning Boudewijnstadion)
BELGIUM - TUNISIA
Referee: Anastásios Sidirópoulos GRE
Assistant Referee 1: Polychrónis Kostarás GRE
Assistant Referee 2: Lázaros Dimitriádis GRE
Fourth Official: Ioánnis Papadópoulos GRE
Video Assistant Referee: Ángelos Evangélou GRE
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Athanásios Tzílos GRE

15:00 CET - Kaunas (Dariaus ir Girėno stadionas)
LITHUANIA - LATVIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

16:00 CET - Yerevan (Vazgen Sargsyan anvan Hanrapetakan Marzadasht)
ARMENIA - KAZAKHSTAN
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

17:00 CET - Pärnu (Pärnu Rannastaadion)
ESTONIA - FAROE ISLANDS
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

19:00 CET - Gibraltar (Europa Point Stadium)
GIBRALTAR - CAYMAN ISLANDS
Referee: Antoine Paul Chiaramonti AND
Assistant Referee 1: Joan Guiu Serra AND
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Braga Gonçalves AND
Fourth Official: José Antonio Díaz Lorente GIB

19:45 CET - Oeiras (Estádio Nacional do Jamor)
PORTUGAL - CHILE
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

19:45 CET - Bucharest (Stadionul Steaua)
ROMANIA - WALES
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

20:00 CET - Tirana (Air Albania Stadium)
ALBANIA - LUXEMBOURG
Referee: Genc Nuza KOS
Assistant Referee 1: Fatlum Berisha KOS
Assistant Referee 2: Bujar Selimaj KOS
Fourth Official: Eldorjan Hamiti ALB

20:30 CET - Chicago (Soldier Field)
USA - GERMANY
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

21:00 CET - St Louis, USA (Energizer Park)
PANAMA - BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

21:00 CET - San Diego, USA (Snapdragon Stadium)
SWITZERLAND - AUSTRALIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

22:00 CET - Harrison, USA (Sports Illustrated Stadium)
BOLIVIA - SCOTLAND
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

22:00 CET - Cleveland, USA (Cleveland Browns Stadium)
BRAZIL - EGYPT
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

22:00 CET - East Hartford, USA (Pratt & Whitney Stadium)
CABO VERDE - BERMUDA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

22:00 CET - Tampa, USA (Raymond James Stadium)
ENGLAND - NEW ZEALAND
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

22:00 CET - Los Angeles, USA (BMO Stadium)
QATAR - EL SALVADOR
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Sunday 7 June 2026

01:00 CET - Fort Lauderdale, USA (Chase Stadium)
VENEZUELA - TÜRKİYE
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

02:00 CET - College Station, USA (Kyle Field)
ARGENTINA - HONDURAS
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

02:00 CET - Willemstad (Stadion Ergilio Hato)
CURAÇAO - ARUBA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

15:00 CET - Vaduz (Rheinpark Stadion)
LIECHTENSTEIN - CYPRUS
Referee: Anojen Kanagasingam SUI
Assistant Referee 1: Bastien Lengacher SUI
Assistant Referee 2: Claudio Dos Santos SUI
Fourth Official: Marijan Drmic SUI

18:30 CET - Odense (Nature Energy Park)
DENMARK - UKRAINE
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

20:00 CET - Pristina (Stadiumi "Fadil Vokrri")
KOSOVO - ANDORRA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

20:45 CET - Varaždin (Nogometni stadion "Varteks")
CROATIA - SLOVENIA
Referee: Bence Csonka HUN
Assistant Referee 1: István Albert HUN
Assistant Referee 2: Gergő Vígh-Tarsonyi HUN
Fourth Official: Patrik Kolarić CRO

21:00 CET - Iraklion (Pangrítio Stádio)
GREECE - ITALY
Referee: Yigal Frid ISR
Assistant Referee 1: Rostislav Talis ISR
Assistant Referee 2: Tuval Rahamim Koltunoff ISR
Fourth Official: Dimítrios Móschou GRE
Video Assistant Referee: Daniel Bar Natan ISR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Nati Dotan ISR

21:00 CET - Harrison, USA (Sports Illustrated Stadium)
MOROCCO - NORWAY
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

22:00 CET - Columbus, USA (ScottsMiracle-Gro Field)
ECUADOR - GUATEMALA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Monday 8 June 2026

01:00 CET - San Diego, USA (Snapdragon Stadium)
COLOMBIA - JORDAN
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

20:45 CET - New York, USA (Icahn Stadium)
NETHERLANDS - UZBEKISTAN
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

21:10 CET - Villeneuve d'Ascq (Decathlon Arena - Stade Pierre Mauroy)
FRANCE - NORTHERN IRELAND
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Tuesday 9 June 2026

03:08 CET - Auburn, USA (Jordan-Hare Stadium)
ARGENTINA - ICELAND
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

04:00 CET - Puebla, MEX (Estadio Cuauhtémoc)
PERU - SPAIN
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

16:00 CET - Belek, TUR (Gloria Spor Kompleksi)
BAHRAIN - SYRIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

18:00 CET - Yerevan (Vazgen Sargsyan anvan Hanrapetakan Marzadasht)
ARMENIA - MOLDOVA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

18:00 CET - Cádiz, ESP (Estadio Municipal de La Línea de la Concepción)
DR CONGO - CHILE
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

18:00 CET - Kaliningrad (Rostec Arena)
RUSSIA - TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

18:30 CET - Minsk (Nacyjanaĺny futboĺny stadyjon)
BELARUS - BURKINA FASO
Referee: Rafael Shafeyev RUS
Assistant Referee 1: Aleksey Lunyov RUS
Assistant Referee 2: Dmitriy Safyan RUS
Fourth Official: Anton Lašuk BLR

19:00 CET - Debrecen (Nagyerdei Stadion)
HUNGARY - KAZAKHSTAN
Referee: Pavle Ilić SRB
Assistant Referee 1: Milan Šutulović SRB
Assistant Referee 2: Nikola Đorović SRB
Fourth Official: Danilo Nikolić SRB
Video Assistant Referee: Aleksandar Živković SRB
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Milan Stefanović SRB

20:00 CET - Szombathely, HUN (Haladás Sportkomplexum)
AZERBAIJAN - SAN MARINO
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

22:00 CET - Bridgeview, USA (SeatGeek Stadium)
IRAQ - VENEZUELA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

Wednesday 10 June 2026

01:00 CET - San Antonio, USA (Toyota Field)
SAUDI ARABIA - SENEGAL
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

02:30 CET - Auburn, USA (Jordan-Hare Stadium)
ICELAND - ARGENTINA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

21:45 CET - Leiria (Estádio Municipal de Leiria)
PORTUGAL - NIGERIA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

22:00 CET - Orlando, USA (Inter & Co. Stadium)
ENGLAND - COSTA RICA
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:

11 comments:

  1. A full Brazilian crew for a game between two European teams looks odd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a cooperation between Brazilian and German federations. Daniel Schlager will be the referee of Brazil - Panama. Same case like Damian Kos in Japan - Iceland.

      Delete
    2. By the way, Matheus Delgado Candançan is only 27 years old.

      Delete
  2. In the past, it was long-standing practice to assign friendly matches with World Cup teams in World Cup years shortly before the start of the World Cup to the best referees who were not participating in the tournament. The fact that Netherlands - Algeria is being refereed by Jakob Semler would have been unrealistic back then. From an Austrian perspective, Sebastian Gishamer would have primarily been suitable, followed by Julian Weinberger and Stefan Ebner. I had the impression that experienced referees were deliberately relied upon in order to prevent injuries from grossly negligent to deliberate fouls so shortly before the World Cup. Conversely, I cannot understand the nomination of Javier Alberola Rojas for Andorra - Liechtenstein: While friendly matches are often assigned to neighboring countries, for this specific encounter, from a Spanish perspective, a FIFA novice like Mateo Busquets Ferrer would also have been suitable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't understand this appointment either.
      It would be a good game for Mateo to referee.

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    2. It's a very interesting topic. Personally, I noticed that in recent years there has been a really significant devaluation in the appointment of referees for friendly matches, which are now automatically considered low-level games in almost every case compared to the past. As you correctly pointed out, in past there was less referee categorization, and a certain type of friendly between two World Cup teams could still be officiated by someone who perhaps would not go to the World Cup, but who was still a top name.
      Nowadays, instead, the only logic seems to be that referees of a certain type, a certain standard, and a certain level of experience must necessarily be assigned a particular kind of matches. As a result, we also get many strange appointments, we can say. For example, the Alberola Rojas appointment you mentioned: obviously, based on his experience, he could handle far bigger matches, but since he happens to be geographically close, he gets that game and they don't think much further about it.
      In my opinion, there is less methodology in the appointment process for these friendlies nowadays and more rigid categorization compared to the past. The only exceptions are some very big friendlies, such as those involving the major European federations between them, France, Germany, Spain, England, and Italy. Those matches still very often receive a top referee, even if they are only friendlies, although not always. Everything else is generally treated as lower-level and in most cases, a referee from a close country is sent.

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    3. Is it not normally organised between the respective countries and associations. With very little or no input from UEFA/FIFA. A lot of the friendlies are organised by a private company who seek officials to be organised by the host country.

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    4. Nevertheless, I would have expected that, so close to the start of the tournament, friendly matches between two World Cup participants would be preferentially assigned to referees with experience in the Champions League or at least the Europa League. Younger, talented referees can, of course, perform just as well. However, if a World Cup player is injured by a nasty foul and the referee is found partly responsible for not intervening in time, the committees are unnecessarily put in a difficult position regarding such assignments. With approximately 50 Champions League referees, of whom only 16 are going to the World Cup, there are plenty of options from that pool alone.

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    5. Given the top guys will be away from family etc. they are probably on holiday with their families or sorting work before going away

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  3. An outstanding performance from Steven McLean 10 years on from his first final. In what was a smooth game he kept full control and all decisions were respected. Well done Steven and co.

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  4. Do someone know if the new rules 2026-2027 will be applied for these games to prepare World Cup teams for this competition ?

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