Facundo Tello will officiate France - Morocco, the first quarterfinal of 2026 FIFA World Cup. For the first time at this tournament, the five officials on the pitch will be from the same nation.
Match #97
Quarterfinals
9 July 2026, 22:00 CET
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough
FRANCE - MOROCCO
Referee: Facundo Tello ARG
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Pablo Belatti ARG
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Chade ARG
Fourth Official: Dario Herrera ARG
Reserve AR: Cristian Navarro ARG
Video Assistant Referee: Hernan Mastrangelo ARG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1 : Lerodan Gonzalez URU
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2 : Tatiana Guzman NCA
Standby Video Assistant Referee: : Abdullah Alshehri KSA
Good luck to Facundo Tello!
ReplyDeleteI really don't know what to think about the all Argentinian crew... when France is playing.
ReplyDeleteCool. Two of the first three comments suggest some sort of fix.
ReplyDeleteI am not suggesting anything. But why does FIFA "open" the possibility of all sorts of aftermath.
ReplyDelete+1000
DeleteThe only possibility is what the optics look like, we referees on this blog should know better than to question their honour and ethics. All this should be held above board, beyond the scope of conspiracy theories.
DeleteVar crew in the staduim
ReplyDeleteNot in ibc dallas
I thought it was the support var crew in the stadium according to ArbitroInternacional
DeleteNo the main var
DeleteDesperate for Tello to have a great match to shut a lot of people up
ReplyDeleteMissed foul and yc for morocco
ReplyDeleteconfused how he missed that, seemed obvious
DeleteIts clear defender didnt play the ball and trip tge atacker
DeleteMissed yc 14 min
ReplyDeleteMissed YC for Digne (FRA). As expexted, lenient line as usual in this WC.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, that's never a first YC at this tournament.
DeleteHowever, the advantage had materialized, so bringing it back to the free kick was wrong, I think.
Agree. Too late return indeed.
DeleteYes, I agree here on too long an advantage (even though he was clearly explaining to the captain that’s what he was doing). We have seen very poor use of the advantage signal in this tournament.
DeleteOn the cards, I disagree. Keeping his cards in his pocket is what we have seen consistently during the tournament. No reason to expect it to stop now.
Higher level of foul.
ReplyDeleteIm happy to see it.
Lets see next minutes
Excellent PK award from Tello called live and good "no foul" in the build up
ReplyDeleteYep, great positioning and run to be able to call it. Great no foul in the build up, VAR would have been in the spot light after the EGY-ARG game but no foul.
DeleteClear pen. No foul in the build up
ReplyDeleteMbqpepe dive before the tackle
ReplyDeleteStop to be ridiculous.
Deleteclear trip
DeleteIt’s hard to argue a dive when the slide tackle clearly takes out supporting leg. A previous Mbappe penalty call might have been called as “attacker initiating contact” but not this one.
DeleteAttacker initiated contact, no penalty. Different rules for Mbappé!
ReplyDeleteAdnane behave yourself!!!
ReplyDeleteToi refereeing drop Tello with no foul on Hakimi and clear penalty as well after with very dynamic movement. Very good !
ReplyDeleteMbappe goes down before the contact
ReplyDeleteAre you blind ?
DeleteEveryone does when you look at super slow motion. No penalty is actually a 100 % penalty. Byt this is an expected penalty.
DeleteFinally a referee who is able to make in field Penalty decisions and does not need VAR
ReplyDeleteThat's a penalty in any game, at any time
ReplyDeleteFinally a referee who is able to make On field penalty decisions and does not need VAR
ReplyDeleteBut what an akward waiting time before the Penalty kick
DeleteIn fairness, it was rather obvious. I think all would give that one live
DeletePerfect positioning and correct decision. Unfortunately VAR let him down big time with that LONG check.
DeleteDefinitely @MiCo no reason the check should have been happening for so long
DeleteHonestly its a clear clear penalty
ReplyDeleteVerry long check
ReplyDeleteWhy did that take so long
ReplyDeleteVAR check for a potential foul in APP
DeleteIt tooks 10 seconds to see no foul here. Catastrophic from VAR.
DeleteYes @crn.pie but for me, one check should have been able to see it was a non-foul.
DeleteOnly thing here I can see, is if they had to identify when the APP started, then watched the 1-2mins to the incident. But it wasn’t that long? Wasn’t it?
What was that delay about? Very confusing.
ReplyDeleteVisibly bothered by that long check, that's very poor from the ref team
ReplyDelete50/50 PK imo correct good start by the Argentina ref
ReplyDeleteWe all wished Var to be more Brave and interfer!! anyway it was missed.
ReplyDeleteNo VAR intervention needed, no foul.
DeleteI don’t get why you put everyone in position to kick the PK if the check is not over, delay until you hear check complete.
ReplyDeleteWhat on earth was that management of the kick-taking procedure? How can you be so slow and unnecessarily drawn out, leaving the kicker waiting for so long? Tello’s handling of the situation was absolutely disastrous, completely at odds with the quality of his initial decision!
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that was on Tello. I think he was extremely surprised how long it took the same as the players. Very weird from VAR
DeleteAgree @WisconsinRef, it falls on VAR here and Tello is waiting for the VAR team to complete the check. Very harsh to blame Tello here
DeleteIts clear from replay mbapape intiated the contact
ReplyDeleteAs some bloggers said about Tagliafico's penalty, if there is contact it is a penalty.
DeleteMazraoui badly late, he even didn't protest.
DeleteA lengthy check like that undermines the authority of the referee. It was clear and obvious the referee was right. Quick check and get on with it
ReplyDeleteAdnane - no I am really sorry. He didn't. Look at the replay from behind
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThe management was absolutely shocking. Clearly the kicker was put off. Completely unnecessary length of VAR check.
ReplyDeletethey were having a water break :)
DeleteThat was equally on Tello by having everyone get set for the PK, even insisting the retake those positions, all before the check was complete
DeleteVAR team did more to get inside Mbappe's head than Morocco, very poor
ReplyDeleteAgree. Unacceptable by VAR.
DeleteAlthough this time the ref made a right decision, but then for no reason at all Mbappe had to wait for almost 3 minutes. The referees are becoming more sophisticated how to help their favourites.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love his movement/sprint in that PK desicion, to get to right position.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Model one. I notice it too.
Delete+1
DeleteSimply awful perfomance by VAR on entire WC 2026
ReplyDelete36' For the umpteenth time this tournament, a ball correctly placed in the corner quadrant has to be moved for no reason
ReplyDeleteAnother scandal by var waiting 3 min for a clear pen
ReplyDeleteNot every situation the referee managed not well is a scandal.
DeleteGod forbid they take a little extra time to review to ensure the game can restart properly without any controversy.
ReplyDelete3 minutes and 12 seconds to confirm what was obvious from initial viewing. It was poor. Also don't know why Tello had them get into position before VAR confirmed anyway.
DeleteIronically, this is the whole reason behind less VAR interventions because they take too long.
DeleteIf they hadn’t been in position, then would have another minute before the kick was taken. Have everything in position so once the check is complete, they can take the pen straight away.
And many people here want to blame the officials for the Mbappe
ReplyDeleteMbappe's miss PK
DeleteThat's the problem with the long delay. If he makes it, the gk complains.
Delete38‘ Clear stamp on foot, unfortunately missed. Otherwise, I lime Tello a lot so far. He is well respected so far in a rather simple game so far.
ReplyDeleteYes, but in keeping with the way the tournament has been called in terms of foul recognition and disciplinary sanctions. Can’t blame Tello for being consistent.
DeleteAnd then people complain this really impacted Mbappe. Smh. He's salty he missed the pen, commentators are salty he missed and tried to find some blame other than the striker simply couldn't put the ball behind the net against Bono.
ReplyDelete3 min delay at penalty and 3 min hydration break equals 5 added minutes apparently
ReplyDeleteAfter being excellent in 2022, added time management has been a real weakness in this tournament
Delete+ 1
DeleteNobody wants to see 12 minutes of stoppage time with an extra 3 minutes added on for stoppages within stoppage time. People have places to be.
Delete47’ another case of referees missing to call a corner kick and VAR not being allowed to intervene because of the one-way law.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Completely non-sense.
DeleteWas a foul, a shirt pull on Hakimi, well spotted by the referee.
DeleteThat’s not the situation I am talking about… The goalkeeper saved the ball with his hand.
DeleteNever a foul because Hakimi did the same and without ball possession. After, corner with his head contact.
DeleteMissed clear YC for this handball IMO
ReplyDeletemissed yc at 45 +4. Arm clearly stretched out stopping the ball.
ReplyDeleteAre we surprised no YC given? For me, ordinarily yes but not in this World Cup
DeleteI can only speak about compliments in Tello perofmrance! Full under control!
ReplyDeleteGreat first half from Tello, may it continue in the second
ReplyDeleteSo, in all his years of Argentinian football, Hello never had a player knock the whistle from his mouth? Not a good practice.
ReplyDeleteSome of the new rules work... others doesn't. I think it could be "funny" with a 0-0 = 0 points to both teams in group and league stages. That could spice up the games ;)
ReplyDeleteOther than a few instances, been impressed with Tello so far. See there are good refs outside of UEFA
ReplyDelete=Tello
ReplyDeleteApparently the VAR Check before the Penalty took so long because they checked if there was another "Covered his mouth" Situation from Morocco or not after the Foul. (according to German TV)
ReplyDeleteMorrocan player spoke to Dembele while covering his mouth. Rightly so, no sanction. But unfortunately I can see how this rule could be abused in the future.
Delete25:45
DeleteAhhh… this explains it
DeleteApart from Barton, Turpin, Oliver, and the Jordanian referee, all the other referees are beyond terrible. Collina should resign after this tournament
ReplyDelete+1 .
Deletedisrespectful Taylor ,who had a fantastic Spain v Portugal game
DeleteWar mode? Losing your nerves?
DeleteOverall good performance by the Argentina referee and with VAR it is under question mark { what did really cause the delay} otherwise......
ReplyDeleteBad optics on the penalty. Should have clearly indicated to the players that the check was on going before requesting the players to be in position.
ReplyDeleteUnderstandable long check when you have a look at the replay. It appears Mbappe starts falling milliseconds before contact. Not clear enough to send Tello to the monitor and acceptable to give the benefit of the doubt.
Mazraoui clearly initiated the contact and you can see him hitting his leg tripping. This is one of those cases when VAR zooming in and doing things in slow motion undermines the spirit of refereeing
DeleteYes,there was mouth cover when Diop wqs talking to Dembele.
ReplyDeleteSo what now?
Dembele has to run towards Tello so that he would show RC?
Just like Mexican and Turkish players were running and complaining?
What a ridiculous rule and stupidity at it's finest.
next thing you know they're going to bug every player and send them off if they say anything bad
DeleteI think to get rid of racism and discrimination it is a good move. As a referee, we can’t hear everything on the pitch and many incidents are caused due to mouth covering.
DeleteYes you will get players look to exploit it but this goes for all areas of football, happens with the dark arts.
After watching the replay several times, this is my opinion: awarding the penalty is a common sense because the defender simply cannot make a challenge like that. However, watch it frame by frame: Mbappé starts going down before the contact! He suddenly tucks both legs underneath himself and initiates the contact. That’s why the review took so long.
ReplyDeleteThat said, there is still contact, and this is not a clear and obvious error, which is why VAR did not intervene. Nevertheless, if I had to give a definitive opinion on whether it was a penalty or not, my answer would be NO!
The review took so long because they were checking for a mouth covering incident. They were not reviewing the penalty incident.
DeleteDid VAR room not notify of “penalty check”? (not Red Card check)
DeleteUnfortunately, the referees are under a lot of pressure. Letexier’s home address has been leaked, and they found his grandmother’s Facebook account and insulted her. All of this is because of Collina. I am very sad.
ReplyDeletesorry but how is this Collina's fault?
DeleteAfter this, this man cannot live in France without protection. This is the first time I've ever seen a referee become such a target
Delete@benjamin Who appoints the referees? Who prepares them for the matches? Even Trump threatened a referee, and they couldn't even open their mouths
DeleteFirst time? My friend, Felix got death threats on his work mail... got police protection.
Deletetrump didn't threaten any refs. He just stated his opinion on their decisions. Egyptians went mad after a poorly refereed game. Not Collina's fault that he did bad or that the egyptian fans act like they do. He will be fine
Delete@zwayerbrazil I didn't know that, but thousands of people are finding Letexier’s family’s accounts and threatening them. His current address is trending on Twitter. These are terrible things
DeleteHe literally implied that the referees were corrupt. That's was a direct attack, he didn't simply state his opinion.
DeleteThis is not Collina‘s fault. The person responsible for this is the Egyptian coach who should be harshly punished for his unjust accusations!
DeletePlayers going down early is another consequence of the tournament foul level. What they have always known as fouls are often not called and they, incorrectly, try to sell the call.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it is part of modern day football so players know to avoid serious contact and are able to fall properly to the ground to avoid further injury.
DeleteMissed offside by ar1 54 min
ReplyDeleteI think there might have been a missed handball on France (Rabiot?) before the Mbappe goal. But too far back for VAR to review.
ReplyDeleteNo replay from director
DeleteBounced up from both feet, unexpected, no time to react, not unnaturally bigger. It’s not a handball
DeleteDoes anyone have a replay on the possible handball before the first goal?
ReplyDeleteNo replay from the source tello put the whitsle in his mounth and put it back
DeleteI have included a replay down the bottom
DeleteYes, not in the build up. Issia may earn a SYC if he takes out Dembele too. But will he be shown the card?
ReplyDeleteFRA now 2-0 game changes but I do not see MAR being the team to turn to the dark arts or turn aggressive.
ReplyDeleteGood 63’ foul + Reckless challenge + Yellow Card. Little coming together beforehand between Mbappe and Diop but correct non-foul and well done to Tello not stopping the game for it. Clearly Diop looking to leave something on Mbappe after he scored to make it 1-0.
Tello – aside from the disastrous handling of the pre-penalty incident, with a VAR completely asleep at the wheel – delivers an excellent refereeing performance. The yellow card was unavoidable, and the rest of the match was made easier by how straightforward the game was to manage. Congrats to Argentinian team.
ReplyDeleteVAR was checking for a mouth covering incident, that’s why there was a delay in the penalty taken.
DeleteTello is clearly injured.
ReplyDeleteIt’s really hard to figure out what his particular injury is here. He can run backwards, twist his body whilst running, two step shuffle forward and backwards fine too. It just seems in the full sprinting motion he is unable to put in the sprints he did earlier in the game?
Delete78 min Ref looks injuried
ReplyDeleteAgree!
DeleteYes, he was far behind play on the last shot on the France breakaway.
ReplyDeleteOf what nationality is TV director, question?
ReplyDeleteOne billion replays of contact with Lisandro foot, but zero of Rabiot grabbing the ball with both hands and throwing it into the Moroccan goal.
It’s a international path chosen by fifa broadcaster.
DeleteQuestion remains unanswered.
DeleteBecause impossible to know lol.
DeleteFrench director
DeleteKeep cool. France was heavily better.
Deleteand before you ask, the VAR has its own TV Director, they don't rely what is shown on TV or not.
DeleteFrançois Lanaud
Deletehttps://streamable.com/m9x2rr No punishable handball by LOTG.
DeleteVery good Tello at all.
ReplyDeleteVery good performance by Tello, in my opinion it was one of the best performances from a non-UEFA referee this tournament.
ReplyDeleteVery good job Mr Tello, you show that referees still have integrity. Could see him as 4th official for final if Argentina don't make it
ReplyDeleteQF 1 what a performance by the Argentina referee Tello and company, second half was flawless rather a piece of cake to eat
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to the officials
Congrats to Tello, very good performance for him, and end of road as main referee. About potential 4th offical we will see further!
ReplyDeleteOut of all controversial referee decisions and VAR interventions, IMO it feels much more unfair and rigged when a situation before the goal is just ignored and not even replayed. I have searched for a replay on the internet and it looks like a handball on the first goal and Morocco was robbed. It should be a bare minimum to show at least every interesting situation, otherwise football just does not make any sense and the winner can be declared by FIFA before the game.
ReplyDeleteCheck the video below. No handball. No controversy. Not robbed, France were just too good.
DeleteExcellent performance by Tello, sorry he was menaged in a way to get only 3 games.
ReplyDeleteYou have to say well done to Tello. You wouldn’t say that it has been one of the more difficult games of the tournament, hasn’t had lots of KMI, two teams wanting to play football has helped him manage the game, not a real physical game but called foul detection was good. Referee committee will be happy the focus was on the football (no bad optics) and will be happy with the disciplinary action taken. I don’t feel he was really pushed here in terms of really testing his abilities in terms of match management or technical aspects of his refereeing.
ReplyDeleteKMI of the penalty was correct. The issue surrounding the delay to the penalty was due to a VAR check for a mouth covering incident (can’t blame VAR or Tello here) but Referee committee won’t be happy with the delay. Despite having a physical issue (he didn’t seem to be moving as well with the end to end movement here) but he managed to finish the game.
Tello can be happy to finish the tournament on a good performance especially with Argentina going deep into the tournament.
Potential Handball incident before Mbappe Goal
Deletehttps://streamable.com/m9x2rr
No handball here, there should be no controversy. Rabbiot has played the ball from his foot into his hand. This is not a handball as per LOTG. Neither was a goal scored directly from this deflection off his body on to this hand.
A few years ago it would have been for starting a promising attack or leading to a goal but not anymore.
DeleteBall came from the opponent, not his foot. Doesn’t matter.
DeleteTello is a great referee. Congratulations!!
ReplyDeleteThen potential handball before the Mbappe goal was a foul a few years ago but not now.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn’t then either… goal was scored 13 seconds after.
DeleteWell done to Tello and his team. It wasn’t a difficult match, but they managed it in a way that kept it that way. Congrats! Good for him that the pace of the game was rather slow and there was no extra time. Otherwise, fitness could have become an issue.
ReplyDelete+1, agree. And congratulations to Tello.
DeleteHigh-quality performance from Tello. Technical interpretations and disciplinary decisions were timely, consistent, and correct.
ReplyDeleteAlways authoritative.
Despite a slight decline in athleticism in the final half hour, he was still good.anyway.