Norwegian referee Espen Eskas will make his WC debut by officiating Uruguay - Cape Verde.
Match #37
Group H
22 June 2026, 00:00 CET
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens
URUGUAY - CAPE VERDE
Referee: Espen Eskas NOR
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Erik Engan NOR
Assistant Referee 2: Isaak Bashevkin NOR
Fourth Official: Tori Penso USA
Reserve AR : Brooke Mayo USA
Video Assistant Referee: Willy Delajod FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Jérôme Brisard FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 :Dennis Johan Higler NED
Correct YC. Should have given the free kick on the situation a minute earlier.
ReplyDelete5’ YC for reckless challenge for CPV defender
ReplyDeleteEarly YC by Eskas which is supportable but not in keeping with the high bar at this tournament
Reckless any day of the week
DeleteIt’s amazing you know, he gives a YC for a poor challenge and then all of a sudden it stops the CPV players from diving in and making poor challenges. This is what using disciplinary actions does in stopping the escalation of challenges
Delete@EricX I agree with you but if you look at this tournament, let alone the last game, you have to say that we have seen a lot of these types of challenges go without any disciplinary action.
DeleteYou are right about that, but i does not mean that the disviplinary actions in previous games have been flawless.
DeleteAlmost like correctly and consistently enforcing the laws leads to less infringement of the laws… Seemingly a concept FIFA needs reminding of.
Delete“ we have seen a lot of these types of challenges go without any disciplinary action.” <— But it does not mean that “no disciplinary action” is the good way…
DeleteEspen Eskås has chewing gum in his mouth.. interesting..
ReplyDeleteI feel it's rather normal, I'm sure Oliver tends to too
DeleteWhat a shock
Delete"I don't think it's normal for a referee to chew gum... he is chewing gum while communicating with the players and VAR. What kind of professionalism is this?"
DeleteMark Geiger (Former FIFA and two time World Cup referee from USA) chewed gum every game. His reason was that he threw up before every single game he refereed. That’s not something you’ll hear from many people.
DeletePossible handball 23'
ReplyDeletePotential PK for handball, correct no call imo
ReplyDeleteNo penalty is ok. Very good Eskas at time with 3 correct YC and alertness in his refereeing. I like it.
ReplyDeleteMe too, refreshing this approach at the World Cup. I just hope Collina and Busacca don’t mark him down for his disciplinary approach
Delete2 *
ReplyDeleteI think Eskas is one of the best referees when it comes to positioning.
ReplyDelete"I remember the Rangers vs. Fenerbahce game; it was the worst refereeing performance I have ever seen in my life. Right after that, the Bilbao vs. United game was exactly the same. I think Espen Eskås is a protected referee by uefa and fifa. Almost all the penalties he awards are help from VAR."
DeleteBe interesting to see what happens as this game progresses, thus far can’t complain
DeleteAnd now some will make argument that he did not stop the play or that Uruguay did not show fair play.
ReplyDeleteFor me no big need and also the player could play the ball out
DeleteAgree. No problem at all. Very good first half by Eskas IMO.
DeleteWhy did CPV #18 need to come off before the KO? Play was not stopped for his injury.
DeleteDoing the growingly popular in Europe signal for how much extra additional time. A regular half for Eskas, more an expected Uefa style, with a consistant foul line. YC for reckless and SPA correct. All very good thus far!
ReplyDeleteGreat performance by Eskas. Great YCs and good advantages. Also correct no penalty call and top communication. Lets hope for a good second half
ReplyDeleteAgree, one of the best performances in the tournament (so far) by the Norwegian referee in a very challenging match. I tried to tell people about Eskas for many months now! Between this game and one of the matches yesterday, you can see sooo clearly the difference between a referee who has (earned and) savours FIFA's trust/belief and radiates that in his refereeing, and an official for whom the contrary is very visibly true. It was unfortunate what happened at the Uru 1-1 goal, I did expect Eskas to kill the match when Muslera got on the ball, but I don't think (m)any fingers of blame can be pointed at the ref here.
Delete@Mikael did you see the way the player was moving after the goal? It didn’t seem to me to be a serious injury (cramp way too early in the match so maybe a hamstring issue?). If it was a hamstring he wouldn’t be able to run and would be holding hamstring or at least limping. Nothing
DeleteMaybe controversial but I think the player was not seriously injured, I think he was doing it to break up the play and stop the URU attack. Great non intervention for me, at the time I think he should have intervened but post treatment, it was the right call for me.
Yes, I did.
DeleteHe was substituted off before the second half kicked off.
The injury started at 41:10 and by the time Muslera had the ball, it was 42:40. Eskas obviously did well not to stop the game at 41:10, bearing in mind the pretty obvious Cpv tactic. But, after ninety seconds, enough time had passed that it made sense to stop the game - and the player could have been ordered off the FoP anyway for the requesite one minute. This was my feeling and clearly the feeling of Uru21 too! He clearly expected Eskas to stop. You can clearly understand why the Norwegian ref (at this WC with its' focuses) still didn't stop the game at 42:40, but it would have been more canny to. I don't think the episode is a big deal generally though.
Incorrect dropped ball and incorrect placement and also incorrect team got the restart…
ReplyDeleteWrong. This is completemy in line with guidelines. The ball did not touch the referee, but it is common sense to drop the ball in a situation like that.
DeleteIncorrect application (ball didn’t hit referee) but if you see that the CPV player was about to run on to the ball, then I think the spirit of the law was upheld here). I don’t think it should count negatively against him here.
DeleteExactly. I think I have seen examples of this on the latest UEFA rap.
Delete+1
DeleteYou are still factually wrong Eric. Didn’t hit the referee. There is no dropped ball. Wrong placement and team restart no matter what.
DeleteCould that challenge be seen as a dogso?
ReplyDeleteIt looked close, I only saw it once.
DeleteFor me, the defender centrally could have recovered.
DeleteVery close, but I think it's SPA/lack of respect
DeleteAgree with AFC Referee Rep.
DeleteI think it is in between SPA and DOGSO.
DeleteMaybe i'm wrong but pretty sur ball hit the harm of the attacker who scored 2nd goal for Cape Verde, so it from a replay, not sure.
ReplyDeleteIt was the stomach/chest.
DeleteOk thanks
DeleteI will be interested to see the image of this offside. An unusual one in terms of location of the 2nd last player and the attacker
ReplyDeletecurious also
Delete+1. That offside scenario is not something you will see every day
DeleteCould've been offside right before the goal as well. I think Uruguay #16 made contact with the GK in an offside position
DeleteWas the image shown? It looked like 2 defenders were on the goal line (so onside) to me
Delete@Elliot it have to be this one because i'm pretty sure there are 2 red players covering Uruguay on the side of AR2
DeleteImage shown at 77’
Delete@crn.ple Animation confirmed offside in the first situation. My point was that even if it wasn't, I still think the goal may very well have been ruled out for the second situation instead
DeleteAgain, we see a Uefa referee call both captains over and tell others to go away. Why? Because it works!
ReplyDeleteAmazing. A referee following the IFAB guidelines…
DeleteIt is interesting, just remember that they are guidelines, it is another matter whether they are implemented or used. Agree, they work well.
DeleteThat is an interesting 3D animation from SAOT
ReplyDeleteThe image is shown. Correct me if I'm wrong but is it not the case that any part of the body off the pitch is considered to be on the goal line? There was a Cape Verde player on the goal line as well so they'd be considered level. Granted, the keeper could potentially be the 2nd last player and if he is not on the line it's still offside
ReplyDeleteThey showed the 2nd last as the outfield player. He must have been JUST ahead of the goal line, but the image wasn’t really clear
DeleteGoal keeper slightly off the line. We must be talking 4-5 cm...
DeleteThe wording from LOTG:
Delete11.4
A defending player who leaves the field of play without the referee’s permission will be considered to be on the goal line or touchline for the purposes of offside until the next stoppage in play or until the defending team has played the ball towards the halfway line and it is outside its penalty area.
The keeper was on the line (his foot was on about half of it but I think his rear was behind it into the goal). The defender on the post had his rear foot just in front of the goalline. So in this case the attacker was offside by the width of the line.
ReplyDeleteThe attacker was offside by the amount of his foot which was behind the goal line
DeleteThat's not how that works right? He's considered to be on the back of the goal line. How far his leg is behind the line doesn't matter?
DeleteHe was considered to be on the goal line. Nothing else. So he was closer to the goal line than the second-last opponent.
DeleteEskas counting 1 second every 2 seconds… very slow count
ReplyDeletePossible pelanty 90 +5 before the second tacle
ReplyDeleteNo, definitely no, going by the threshold in this World Cup, no foul would expected to be given
DeleteI think eskas as been superb today
ReplyDeleteExtreme lack of good sense. Why he didn’t allow the free kick?
ReplyDeleteWell we'll the whistle before the fk taken at least give it like the first half
ReplyDeleteWhat a great performance by Eskas, but why didn’t he allow the final free kick for Cape Verde!
ReplyDeleteVery good performance from eskas for me
ReplyDeleteIf you want to stop and finish the game, don’t whistle this last FK Espen. Well done by the way and excellent performance at all !
ReplyDeleteVery good overall but missed free kick and yellow at the end where he gave a corner kick for the ball tackle. Attacker got fouled by the 1st defender. And he counts the throw-ins slowly. 1 second for him is 2 seconds in real time.
ReplyDeleteI think no one will give a free kick after this play on or advantage situation
DeleteHe didn't benefits from advantege it the atacker lose speed and the defender can make solide and save it
DeleteSecond defender literally made sure advantage didn’t ensue. Has to be called back. Free kick there is much, better than a corner kick.
DeleteBoth final games im this group will need strong referees, after this result
ReplyDeleteSuper Performance by Eskas. Also in the second half top communication, complete control of the game. All YCs correct and correct offside decision. For me as Mikael said one of the best performances. He will surely get a second game
ReplyDeleteThat was a good performance at half time as per Mikael, second half complete performance. You just have say that he nailed all the areas in terms of technical areas, foul detection bar was much better from me (hopefully Collina and Busacca taking notes), control of the game, fitness, positioning, player management etc etc
DeleteOne of the three best ('wow-factor') performances in the first forty games - bravo, sir!
DeleteWell done by Eskas. Can't see him not getting a second game. This was not a high profile game, but not an easy one.
ReplyDeleteFor the first time in a long while, I actually enjoyed Espen Eskas's refereeing. That Rangers vs. Fener match from two seasons ago is still stuck in my head for all the wrong reasons."
ReplyDeleteİ Remember that, the crazy Turks went wild. Espen closed all his social media accounts as soon as the game ended."
DeleteI think it is natural for these performances to stick in our minds, usually they leave a lasting impression. I also think it’s also good to see how the referees can improve and reach another level with trust, mentoring, given chances after mistakes and exposure at a high level. This is the result of the process.
DeleteFantastic performance by Eskås.
ReplyDeleteNordic refereeing came back strongly after a decade of drought.