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: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Rodolpho Toski BRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Hernan Mastrangelo ARG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Hernan Mastrangelo ARG
Match #74
Round of 32
29 June 2026, 22:30 CET
Gillette Stadium, Foborough
GERMANY - PARAGUAY
Referee: Jalal Jayed MAR
Assistant Referee 1: Zakaria Brinsi MAR
Assistant Referee 2: Mostafa Akarkad MAR
Fourth Official: Ma Ning CHN
Reserve AR: Zhou Fei CHN
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: Wilton Sampaio BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Pires BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Boschilia BRA
Fourth Official: Cristian Garay CHI
Reserve AR: José Retamal CHI
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: Maurizio Mariani ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Daniele Bindoni ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Tegoni ITA
Fourth Official: Sandro Schärer SUI
Reserve AR: Stéphane De Almeida SUI
Video Assistant Referee:
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :
Match #77
Round of 32
30 June 2026, 23:00 CET
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford
FRANCE - SWEDEN
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 #78
Round of 32
30 June 2026, 19:00 CET
AT&T Stadium, Arlington
IVORY COAST - NORWAY
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
DeleteBecause you need to be more "open mind". He is not the best referee in the world but did you saw his phisical condition? (it is above all that you could expect). Is game management? the errors that he comited one time, its opportunity to improve to the next game. In the beginning he was week. But each game that he oficiatte is better than in previous game.. its notbmy favorite referee but he deserved what he get.
DeleteThought he was excellent in first game - on merit (so far) he deserves to go further.
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.
DeleteUpdate Predictions after the clarification of Philipp S and the clarity in the other games.
DeleteBrazil - Japan: Turpin
Germany - Paraguay:Beida
Netherlands - Morocco: Claus
OT: 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.
Predictions
ReplyDeleteHolland v Morocco - Claus (Brazil) or Herrera (Arg)
Brazil v Japan - Letexier (France)
How much do referees and VAR referees get paid per match?
ReplyDeleteChrome with that answer swift and instantly
DeleteEskas will get one of the must sonorous games of this first roud of playoff. Deserved
ReplyDeleteBRA-JPN - Elfath (USA)
ReplyDeleteNED-MOR - Claus (BRA)
FRA-SWE - Mariani (ITA)
CAN-RSA - Turpin (FRA)
USA-BSH - Atcho (GAB)
Would be better than Pinheiro
DeleteElfath with Japan again?
DeleteAfter WC 2022 R16 Cro vs Jpn.
2026 Ned vs Jpn group stage.
Fab GX. each prediction each error
DeleteThis isn't a prediction. It's just my guess as to what the best appointments would be, but evidently, it wasn't Collina's choice: Pinheiro had already been chosen.
DeletePredictions for Tuesday
ReplyDeleteIvory Coast - Norway: Said Martinez, Christian Ramirez, Walter Lopez (all HON), Dario Herrera (ARG) - Armando Villareal (USA), Erick Miranda (MEX), Abdullah Al-Shehri (KSA)
France - Sweden: Slavko Vincic, Tomaz Klancnik, Andraz Kovacic (all SVN), Katia Garcia (MEX) - Ivan Bebek (CRO), Fedayi San (SUI), Carlos del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Mexico - Ecuador(?): Espen Eskas, Jan Engan, Isaak Bashevkin (all NOR), Alireza Faghani (AUS) - Willy Delajod (FRA), Dennis Higler (NED), Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)
My predictions for Tuesday
DeleteIvory Coast - Norway:Tejera
France – Sweden: Mariani
Mexico - Ecuador: Eskas
Before quarterfinal we will have, probably, 24 different referees:
ReplyDeletePInheiro, Eskas, Tejera and Benitez will obtain their second match.
So we have 20 referees with third match:
Almost sure
UEFA ( 7 ): Letexier, Turpin, Oliver, Mariani, Marchiniak, Vincic and Nyberg
CONMEBOL ( 3): Sampaio, Tello, Valenzuela
CONCACAF ( 3 ): Elfath, Barton, Ramos
After them we will have 2 or 3 for AFC (Faghani, Tantashev and Al Jassim), 1 for CAF (probably Atcho), and 4/5 more from Uefa and Conmebol.
Makkelie will certainly get a third match too.
DeleteMakellei does not made good perfomance so i think he will act as fourth official for one 32 games then he go home
DeleteMakellei does not made good perfomance so i think he will act as fourth official for one 32 games then he go home
Delete@Blog Adminstrator: I think the behavior of Abdiaziz ahmed yousuf is not acceptable. He permanently writes „Makkelei“ instead of „Makkelie“ and I admit this is a deliberated sign of disrespect. It‘s one thing that his only intention to write comments here is to promote one specific referee but I think it’s not okay to treat other referees in this kind. Can you do something against that?
DeleteJousuf seems unteachable and very unfriendly toward other referees. This happens very often; my suggestion is to ban him.
DeleteWith Round of 32 then 16; Should we be expecting more "lower" referees in the Round of 32 given the more knock out stages and this being a little less.
ReplyDeleteFor me BRA - JPN Mariani
ReplyDeleteGER - PAR Martinez
NED - MOR Tejera
IVC - NOR Herrera
FRA - SWE Vincic
MEX - SEN Falcon
USA - BOS Claus
Still no announcement? Referees for monday games won't have to much time to prepare?
ReplyDeleteIt's understandable that you want the whole picture of R32 games to make better appointments.
DeleteBut it is quite possible, that at least the referees for Monday know their games by now.
It would also be a bit strange, if you prepare explicitly for the teams in training for the group stage games, but don't have time for that for the more important KO games.
Brazil - Japan Mariani ITA
ReplyDeleteGermany - Paraguay Jayed MAR
Netherlands - Morocco Sampaio BRA
Sampaio again for a big big game, surprising to not let him breathe with ''easiest'' game
DeleteAlso mentionable: Second match for Jayed with Germany being involved.
DeleteGreat appointment for Mariani, arguably most sonorous game of the R32. Didn't expect it honestly. Sampaio continues tournament of high profile games. Big trust in him. Jayed, as I said earlier, most viable option for CAF representative in KO stages, considering their level of performance in group stage.
ReplyDeleteOT : Benoît Bastien retires from refereeing, and becomes the new Head of Refereeing (professionnal sector) of FFF.
ReplyDeleteWOW, where do you see that ?
Deletehttps://www.instagram.com/p/DaGOiUrjOqO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
DeleteThat’s a big surprise, he was still in the elite category for UEFA and correct appointments in UCL. Hope he will do well in that position. Don’t know what will happen in FFF, I think that position was occupied by Delerue so big changes for French refereeing direction.
DeleteI wonder if the FFF will promote another two referees from Ligue 2 / keep someone demoted for Frappart and Bastien!
DeleteThat's a great point @Euro soccer ref, i think they will have to do it they can't miss 2 refs imo.
DeleteReally big appointment for Mariani..
ReplyDeleteSampaio also getting only big games
It seems they perceive Sampaio as extremley reliable, technically very good referee (and rightly so) but for some reasons they don't see him in the final, therefore sacrificing him with this biggest R32 game.
ReplyDeleteMariani lost control at the end of COLCOD after ignoring a reckless cynical challenge in 83' but his first performance was good enough to merit another appointment.
It's interesting how they manage CAF referees:
- Beida totally rejected after missing a handball penalty (and handball at Austria's goal earlier in the game) in AUTJOR although his performance was good overall
- Jayed given another chance after nervous and technically poor impression in GERCUW, then forgiven a missed foul in APP at Uzbekistan's goal in an otherwise strong performance in PORUZB
- Atcho with two not-so-good performances but avoiding blatant mistakes will make him handle a game in R32?
- Ghorbal also with two so-so performances but will be rejected to not give two spots to Arab referees and Atcho will take it?
Beida was the best of the bunch him being rejected is ridiculous. The first OFR was impossible to see and the penalty nobody even asked for… compare that to Atcho who comes across as amateurish more often than not
DeleteI agree!
DeleteAfter all performances, i will conclude in my view with top 5 candidates for WC final:
ReplyDelete1. Letexier
2.Vincic
3.Nyberg
4.Makelkie
5. Oliver
All europeans?
DeleteFor me: Elfath, Oliver, Letexier, Turpin, Barton.
DeleteGood analysis above by Euro Soccer Ref.
ReplyDeleteIn short, big trust in Sampaio, no problem the first game.
CAF referees: Beida rejected for the handball in the last minute, this was a very mandatory call. The other situation was hard to see.
The Moroccan still gets trust, but he made an OFR, he could have seen the penalty with a better positioning, as I wrote in the specific post.
However, it seems Collina didn't care about that, or maybe decided that he was the best performer from CAF so far.
Nevertheless, once again, let me underline that with Germany FIFA seems to be more flexible and relaxed in assignments, after Penso in group stage (but OK, they had already 6 points), now a CAF referee in a KO stage clash UEFA - CONMEBOL. Not for all national teams, I would say, in other circumstances not easy to make such choices.
Then, Atcho, again, I didn't watch his games in full, reported as very poor, but as long as there wasn't any crucial mistake, one can maybe still expect him. We will see. Ghorbal situation should be clear, not good in the first game.
Last but not least, let's not forget Artan affair and so maybe African referees will get more also for this reason... it's hard to ignore.
Mariani: very good assignment, but for me the maximum he can reach. Honestly the last minutes of his previous games were difficult, But FIFA can always surprise us.
Chefren, what will you said,after group phase,who was best performer,and who is based on you,based only on merit, contender for final?
DeleteCall me biased, but I think it's hard to find a referee like Barton. I'm really enthusiast in watching him, it's incredible what you can find there. I would appoint him for the final if good performance in the next game ( round of 16, maybe?).
DeleteIf the referee has to come from CONCACAF, then we have the name I think.
As for the rest, I saw mostly very easy games for most of UEFA referees, without real challenges. We should wait more...
No,its absolutley legitimate. I see Letexier,you see Barton. Someone else see Elfath etc.So,thank you.
DeleteI think the general flow of the poor handling and poor management of the referees in the group stage moves onto the L32 round now. Jayed for Germany v Paraguay a massive game for him, one I don’t see him as strong enough but good luck to him. Wilton for Holland v Morocco is a good choice.
ReplyDeleteI feel Collina and Bussacca have lost it like Bielsa last night for Uruguay it’s like they are sinking and now just throwing out whatever they wish.
It’s been the worst World Cup for refereeing I have ever seen in 40 years of living
If your username in is reference to who I think it is. I tip my hat to you. Because your taste in referees is magnefique!
DeleteLooking at the unrecognizable disarray that Collina and Busacca have brought to officiating. Reminds me of how much I miss refereeing masters like Castrilli, Brizio-Carter, Milton-Nielsen, Ramos-Rizo, Frisk, Heber Lopes, Merk, etc.....
Referees who were quick to whistle for fouls and enforce the laws of the game without backing down from players or team managers. Real referees! Not "actors".
For the Moroccan Jayed it's not on merit but for being the next WC host, they needed a strong name for 2030 as the host crew and so do Spain ( I won't be surprised to see Hernandez Hernandez at Round 32)
ReplyDelete