Appointments of match officials at 2026 FIFA World Cup, Round of 32.
Match #73
Round of 32
28 June 2026, 21:00 CET
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood
SOUTH AFRICA - CANADA
Referee: João Pinheiro POR
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Jesus POR
Assistant Referee 2: Luciano Maia POR
Fourth Official: Omar Al Ali UAE
Reserve AR: Mohamed Al Hammadi UAE
Video Assistant Referee:
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Match #74
Round of 32
29 June 2026, 22:30 CET
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough
GERMANY - ?
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:
Reserve AR:
Video Assistant Referee:
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Match #75
Round of 32
30 June 2026, 03:00 CET
Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe
NETHERLANDS - MOROCCO
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:
Reserve AR:
Video Assistant Referee:
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Match #76
Round of 32
29 June 2026, 19:00 CET
NRG Stadium, Houston
BRAZIL - JAPAN
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:
Reserve AR:
Video Assistant Referee:
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Will be interesting to see how FIFA handles games where not all Teams are known. In theory tomorrow Germanys Opponent could be still unknown (only narrowed a bit down), so will they just go with the most likely Opponent or just appoint someone, even if they break Confederation neutrality?
ReplyDeleteWhile it may be unknown, after tomorrow it could only be a max. of 5 other nations so it wouldn't be difficult to still appoint and keep confed. neutrality
DeleteI think North American (Barton or Ramos) will be make sense for Germany versus their opponent (SCO, PAR, or SWE)
DeleteIn my view, João Pinheiro could follow a similar tournament trajectory to his compatriot Olegário Benquerença in 2010, when he - somewhat unexpectedly, at least from my perspective - officiated a quarter-final. Recently, the Portuguese referee has come in for considerable criticism from some. However, I have had the impression that he is held in high regard by FIFA, not least given that he officiated a semi-final at both the 2023 U-17 World Cup and the 2025 U-20 World Cup. If he delivers a convincing performance in the round of 32, I would see him well placed to remain in contention for at least a quarter-final appointment.
ReplyDeleteFIFA really supports him much, but I don't see why
DeleteUSA - Bosnia predictions?
ReplyDeleteCould definitely see Tejera in this appointment . Tejera or Claus for me
DeleteI would go for Sampaio right now.
DeletePredictions for Monday:
ReplyDeleteBrazil - Japan: Clement Turpin, Nicolas Danos, Benjamin Pages (all FRA), Szymon Marciniak (POL) - Jerome Brisard, Willy Delajod (both FRA), Hamzi El-Fariq (MAR)
Germany - Paraguay(?): Pierre Atcho, Boris Ditsoga, Amos Ndong (all GAB), Dahane Beida (MTN) - Erick Miranda (MEX), Mohammed Obaid (UAE), Armando Villareal (USA)
Netherlands - Morocco: Raphael Claus, Danilo Manis, Rodrigo Figueiredo (all BRA), Said Martinez (HON) - Nicolas Gallo (COL), Fu Ming (CHN), Antonio Garcia (URU)
Considering how badly my predictions have been - here goes for Monday:
ReplyDeleteBrazil - Japan: Mariani/Tom/Di Bello
Germany - Paraguay(?): Omar / Ning / Al Marri
Netherlands - Morocco: Tejera / Rojas / Gonzales
It really depends on the number of referees, FIFA decide to retain and the breakdown of the continents ,I expect the majority will be from South America and Europe plus a couple from Central America.
ReplyDeletePredictions
ReplyDeleteBrazil - Japan: Eskas
Netherlands - Morocco: Sampaio
The winner of BRA-JPN could play against Norway in the next round, therefore I think, Eskas should be avoided there.
DeleteAlso he had BRA as 4th on MD3, which seems unneccessary, if the plan was to use him for this R32 game.
It's logical, but a match with Norway is likely, but not certain....Moreover, some of the actions in the appointments so far have not been consistent at all. We'll find out soon.
DeleteOT: BBC News - World Cup 2026: Has VAR become a lottery? - BBC Sport
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c8e2ynrp7kro
A good article by Dale Johnson who has summoned I feel many frustrations surrounding VAR at this tournament.
Breaking news: The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has lodged a formal complaint with FIFA challenging the disallowed goal by Vinícius Junior in the match against Scotland.
ReplyDeleteI believe Ramos and Pacheco have landed themselves in a tight spot, and I don't know if they will get any further opportunities in this World Cup.
I have never understood what the point of such official complaints is: there is no breach of the rules, so the chances of annulment and a replay are effectively zero. Is the aim to take revenge and make the referee unappointable due to negative media publicity? Is one hoping for an instruction from FIFA to future referees to offer some form of compensation? What exactly is the objective?
DeleteWhether it is an act of revenge, no one knows. But the curious thing is that the document cites refereeing criteria involving Argentina as well. Collina and Busacca have stepped into a minefield.
DeletePacheco has been appointed as VAR for Fischer, so he has at least not been rejected by FIFA for SCO-BRA.
DeleteRD Congo x Uzbequistão- referee Will be Felix Zwayer( Germany)
ReplyDeleteVAR stats after group stage (VAR / AVAR1 / AVAR2)
ReplyDeleteGallo: 4 / 3 / 1
Lara: 4 / 2 / 1
Pacheco: 4 / 2 / 1
Guzman: 4 / 1 / 3
Gonzalez: 3 / 4 / 1
Dickerson: 3 / 3 / 1
Al Marri: 3 / 2 / 3
Gillett: 3 / 2 / 3
Soto: 3 / 2 / 3
Bebek: 3 / 2 / 2
di Bello: 3 / 2 / 2
Villareal: 3 / 2 / 2
Mastrangelo: 3 / 1 / 5
Brisard: 3 / 1 / 3
Dankert: 3 / 0 / 5
del Cerro Grande: 3 / 0 / 5
Garcia: 2 / 5 / 1
Miranda: 2 / 5 / 0
Higler: 2 / 4 / 1
Ashour: 2 / 2 / 2
Kwiatkowski: 2 / 1 / 5
Alshehri: 2 / 1 / 4
van Driessche: 2 / 1 / 4
Delajod: 1 / 6 / 0
Toski: 1 / 4 / 3
San: 1 / 4 / 2
Obaid: 1 / 3 / 2
El-Fariq: 1 / 3 / 1
Fu: 1 / 2 / 3
Evans: 0 / 2 / 3
Good summary Philip bravo well stated
DeleteOne sure thing we can say, Evans with that gesture lost the chance to be main VAR for a game, all the others were assigned at least once in the main role from the room.
DeleteAnother particular remark is about Delajod, called as replacement after Dieperink withdrawal, and we can see that he got only one game because he was not planned before and they had already a strong name from France getting the big ones.