US referee Ismail Elfath will officiate Netherlands - Japan on domestic soil.
Match 11
Group F
14 June 2026, 22:00 CET
AT&T Stadium, Arlington
NETHERLANDS - JAPAN
Referee: Ismail Elfath USA
Assistant Referee 1: Corey Parker USA
Assistant Referee 2: Kyle Atkins USA
Fourth Official: Katia Garcia MEX
Reserve AR : Sandra Ramirez MEX
Vidéo Assistant Referee: Armando Villarreal USA
Assistant Vidéo Assistant Referee 1 : Rodolpho Toski BRA
Assistant Vidéo Assistant Referee 2 : Tomasz Kwiatkowski POL
No pose to the VAR camera this time!
ReplyDeleteVery upsetting, as it has become my pre match highlight
Delete#13 of Japan doesn't ware proper socks, even totally obvious the absence of shin guards
ReplyDeleteOf course, he wears those 3-inch shin pads -- very common now even with youth players.
DeleteGood pick up! It looks like they are ankle socks. Wonder where the shin guards are
ReplyDelete31' Play on! If the ball touches the referee, some seem to stop play even if it goes back to the same teams player (and no attack started). Stopping just delays the game!
ReplyDeletePlay must stop as pass may have gone to an opponent, who then would be the recipient of the dropball
DeleteAgree with DB, there was no change of possession and no starting a promising attack hence according to the LotG play should have continued.
DeleteNope Refwatch, not according to the Laws
Delete@Ref Mentor Law 9.1, I believe Refwatch is completely correct, and most referees play on if none of those three conditions are met, correctly
DeleteNever a dropped ball. Ball didn’t change possession and they didn’t start a promising attack. Dropped ball was factually 100 % wrong.
DeleteLaw 9.1 states:
Delete“The ball is out of play when:
- it has wholly passed over the goal line or touchline on the ground or in the air
- play has been stopped by the referee
- it touches a match official, remains on the field of play and:
> a team starts a promising attack or
> the ball goes directly into the goal or
> the team in possession of the ball changes
In all these cases, play is restarted with a dropped ball.”
The wording is very clear IMHO and none of the above criteria applies in the situation at hand, so according to the LotG the ball remains in play and no stopping play is required.
It's true that the match doesn't feature a high pace of play, but Elfath seems a bit too static to me: he lacks sprint and acceleration in the game dynamics, his running is stiff and too slow, he starts late; consequently, he struggles to find an effective position (which he often doesn't find), he stays too far from the action and almost never enters the penalty area. He has a good physical figure, but athletically not a great performance at all
ReplyDelete+1 technically has had nothing to do but he is incredibly "economical" with his movement. Only way I can compare it is to a horse trotting. No real injection of pace and very safe movement and positioning
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DeleteGood first half from Elfath. A first half with two teams who’s only here to play football so far. Nonetheless, in control and nothing special to remark. I tend to agree with comment above that Elfath is a bit to static, finding himself in wrong position 2-3 times so far.
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DeleteElfath is calm and discreet, he missed a few small fouls at 19 and 27’ that didn't influence overall. When needed, he called for a personal chat (JAP21). Prettly good so far!
ReplyDeleteEnglish translation:
DeleteIt’s still crazy that the broadcast production isn’t able to provide us with a clear angle to determine whether Van Dijk pushes or not his direct opponent before heading the ball!
For anonymous : you see it’s a translation ;)
DeleteCorrect YC by Elfath.
ReplyDeleteClip: https://streamable.com/yqikf4
Delete66' AR2 did his job, more than 10cm offside, so didn't need to delay flag more than a couple of seconds til that was confirmed. No need for the referee to let play go on, he should have blown much earlier!
ReplyDeleteI don't really understand how it works, but it looks like a situation where the flag should have been delayed if technology hadn't been involved. Gakpo was able to change direction from near the goal line and take an immediate shot, which is exactly what happened.
DeleteAgree. Mistake by Elfath.
DeleteLack of communication. AR2 raises flag for offside quite right, Ref lets play continue into penalty area
ReplyDeleteAR2 66' Clip: https://streamable.com/2uiwgg
ReplyDeleteIs he really usung the whistle at throw-inns?
ReplyDeleteSolid job so far, albeit this isn’t serious test for Elfath with final ambitions. Looking forward to see them in a more demanding game.
ReplyDeleteThose are two of the best teams in the tournament
DeleteGood YC there for reckless use of the arm
ReplyDeleteAgree. Very good Elfath in general but in a very easy match.
DeleteClip: https://streamable.com/dyf6xw
DeleteI feel he has struggled a bit with positioning and fitness in this match
ReplyDeleteYC for Elfath. Clear foul in JAP player
ReplyDeleteYC 90+1': https://streamable.com/7lpwp2
DeleteOnce again Elfath standing in the way of the play. I think it’s very clear that he’s struggling with positioning and coming up to right pace. Feels a bit slow heavy.
ReplyDeleteThree cautions, all perfectly justified, were issued by the American referee — that’s one more than Vincic showed in the Brazil–Morocco match. This is exactly why I’m personally not satisfied with the Slovenian’s performance. The overall consistency of his refereeing is undermined by his obvious leniency, whereas Elfath is uncompromising and decisive. Bravo to the Texan referee!
ReplyDeleteA solid performance in an easy game—as is the case with almost all of Japan’s matches, for that matter
ReplyDeleteTechnically the performance from Elfath was at expected possibly marginally above expected level. Consistent, allowing for a fair degree of physical contact and sanctions all clear cut and correct. It is clear that he possesses the skills to reach the later stages on a technical standpoint.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find difficult to understand and explain is his movement and positioning throughout this game. I don't think you can question his fitness but I think there are legitimate concerns about his movement which has been below expected in comparison to other performances. Has resorted to a gentle jog for the majority of the game and on occasion been very excessively away from the play (showing YC's from 20 plus yards away and on occasion been further away from the play). In a game where the two teams want to play and get on with it, this is no issue. My concern would be if he was assigned to a game that requires more intervention as based on this showing he would lack the proactive positioning and response to deal effectively.
A second appointment is deserved for Elfath for the technical accuracy alone but if I were the FIFA committee, I would appoint him to a similar type of match where you have two football teams who just want to get on with it.
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DeleteBrilliant performance from Elfath tonight. Excellent physical presence, clever positioning in way when he need to sprint he sprint, when need to run he run, when need to maintain open angle from propper distance with walking he do that. Top communication with players. Processing the actions and use patient whistle what is good. Excellent disciplinary and technically. About 66 minute, very clever and smart decision to let the play, even with flag is up. All in all, Elfath starts his journey on best possible way.
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Delete+1. He just needs to correct his positioning. In 3 plays he was in the path of the ball and he even brought down the Japanese player (89’)
DeleteIn the 50th minute wrong FK for NED after simply nothing. A joke - and afterwards the winning of the 2nd ball after the wrong FK led to the first goal scored by NED.
ReplyDeleteBut in general a good job concerning YCs and only a few minor mistakes. I am not really convinced by his positioning and not sure about his physics, but Elfath deserves at least a 2nd good match and if his performance is OK again, we should see him in a knock out match again.
He did very well, for me, in a classical game. He has what it takes to go far in this WC, for sure. Also very nice for him that he was refereeing in his home state!
ReplyDeleteA very good performance for me as well: full control, adequate disciplinary line (with an excellent first YC in 61', this was surely not the same Elfath from the WC22 POR - GHA, which is absolutely a good thing), excellent communication with the players, all KMIs solved correctly. I'm really pleased with this performance.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, and here I agree with some contributors above, his movement has been visibly stiff and slow, lacking in acceleration and with some late starts, which prevented him from reaching optimal positions and left him in the way of players or the ball a little bit too often tonight. It does raise some doubts about his overall fitness and the state of recovery from that last injury. Frankly, he reminded me a bit of Orsato in his last games, not for the overall lack of fitness (which isn't the case with Elfath), but those stiff and late sprints feel really similar. I wonder if and how this will affect his appointments and will it cause eventual problems in more demanding environments.
Good foul detection and correct all YCs. Should improve his positioning, but I really liked his performance. Overall third consecutive game in which refs didn't have difficult task
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