Kick off for the new edition of UEFA Nations League. Please find below the appointments for MD1, first set of games (24 September 2026).
Thursday 24 September 2026
League D, Group 1
18:00 CET - Encamp (Estadi FAF)
ANDORRA vs. MALTA
Referee: Joey Kooij NED
Assistant Referee 1: Dyon Fikkert NED
Assistant Referee 2: Murat Kücükerbir NED
Fourth Official: Jannick van der Laan NED
Video Assistant Referee: Richard Martens NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Robin Hensgens NED
UEFA Referee Observer: David Malcolm NIR
UEFA Delegate:Jiří Novák CZE
League A, Group 2
20:45 CET - Amsterdam (Johan Cruijff ArenA)
NETHERLANDS vs. GERMANY
Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández ESP
Assistant Referee 1: José Enrique Naranjo Pérez ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Diego Sánchez Rojo ESP
Fourth Official: Alejandro Quintero González ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Javier Iglesias Villanueva ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Domenico Messina ITA
UEFA Delegate: Philippe Prudhon FRA
League A, Group 2
20:45 CET - Belgrade (Stadion Rajko Mitić)
SERBIA vs. GREECE
Referee: Glenn Nyberg SWE
Assistant Referee 1: Mahbod Beigi SWE
Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Söderkvist SWE
Fourth Official: Adam Ladebäck SWE
Video Assistant Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: César Soto Grado ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Fredy Fautrel FRA
UEFA Delegate: Armen Minasyan ARM
League A, Group 4
20:45 CET - Lisbon (Estádio José Alvalade)
PORTUGAL vs. WALES
Referee: Donatas Rumšas LTU
Assistant Referee 1: Aleksandr Radiuš LTU
Assistant Referee 2: Dovydas Sužiedėlis LTU
Fourth Official: Robertas Valikonis LTU
Video Assistant Referee: Sören Storks GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Donatas Šimėnas LTU
UEFA Referee Observer: Gianluca Rocchi ITA
UEFA Delegate: Charles Schaack LUX
League A, Group 4
20:45 CET - Oslo (Ullevaal Stadion)
NORWAY vs. DENMARK
Referee: Tobias Stieler GER
Assistant Referee 1: Lasse Koslowski GER
Assistant Referee 2: Jonas Weickenmeier GER
Fourth Official: Matthias Jöllenbeck GER
Video Assistant Referee: Robert Schröder GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Patrick Hanslbauer GER
UEFA Referee Observer: Leslie Irvine NIR
UEFA Delegate: Peter Oskam NED
League B, Group 3
20:45 CET - Linz (Raiffeisen Arena)
AUSTRIA vs. ISRAEL
Referee: Georgi Kabakov BUL
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Margaritov BUL
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Venev BUL
Fourth Official: Radoslav Gidzhenov BUL
Video Assistant Referee: Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins POR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Nikola Popov BUL
UEFA Referee Observer: Draženko Kovačić CRO
UEFA Delegate: Virgar Hvidbro FRO
League B, Group 3
20:45 CET - Pristina (Stadiumi “Fadil Vokrri”)
KOSOVO vs. REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Referee: Lawrence Visser BEL
Assistant Referee 1: Ruben Wyns BEL
Assistant Referee 2: Michele Seeldraeyers BEL
Fourth Official: Kevin Van Damme BEL
Video Assistant Referee: Jan Boterberg BEL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Simon Bourdeaud'hui BEL
UEFA Referee Observer: William Young SCO
UEFA Delegate: Andrey Medintsev BUL
League D, Group 2
20:45 CET - Vaduz (Rheinpark Stadion)
LIECHTENSTEIN vs. LITHUANIA
Referee: Ante Čulina CRO
Assistant Referee 1: Dario Kolarević CRO
Assistant Referee 2: Kristijan Novosel CRO
Fourth Official: Antonio Melnjak CRO
Video Assistant Referee: Tihomir Pejin CRO
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Fran Jović CRO
UEFA Referee Observer: Augustus Viorel Constantin ROU
UEFA Delegate: Andrew Dickson SCO
NED-GER: Hernandez
ReplyDeleteSRB-GRE: Nyberg
POR-WAL: Rumsas
NOR-DEN: Stieler
AUT-ISR: Kabakov
KOS-IRL: Visser
LIE-LTU: Culina
Do you guess or know?
DeleteThe appointments are published.
DeleteOT: U17 WC referees announced by FIFA today. Two female refs will attend the tournament, Olatz Rivera Olmedo and Daiane Muniz, the two refs that handled the last Women's U17WC finals (Muniz in 2024, Rivera Olmedo in 2025)
ReplyDeleteAFC (5)
Mohamed Al-Ismail (KSA)
Abdulhadi Al-Ruaile (QAT)
Ahmed Darwish (UAE)
Du Jianxin (CHN)
Asker Nadzhafaliev (UZB)
CAF (4)
Kassim Abdusalam (NGA)
Mohamed El Baroudi (MAR)
Willy Ngah (CMR)
Elhadji Sy (SEN)
CONCACAF (4)
Ismael López (MEX)
Fernando Morón (PAN)
Josué Ugalde (CRC)
Michael Venne (CAN)
CONMEBOL (6)
Derlis Benítez (PAR)
Oswaldo Contreras (ECU)
Mathias de Armas (URU)
Jairo Mayorga (COL)
Daiane Muniz (BRA)
Sebastián Zunino (ARG)
OFC (1)
Calvin Berg (NZL)
UEFA (7)
Willy Delajod (FRA)
Radoslav Gidzhenov (BUL)
Patrik Kolarić (CRO)
Elçin Masiyev (AZE)
Miloš Milanović (SRB)
Olatz Rivera Olmedo (ESP)
Damian Sylwestrzak (POL)
Milanovic over Minakovic is an interesting choice.
DeleteMinakovic would have appeared more on the level of Delajod and Sylwestrzak (CL debut done), while Milanovic can be seen similar to the other selected UEFA referees, I think.
Is this official or? Where did FIFA publish this?
DeleteMostly normal appointments in NL.
ReplyDeleteOnly Hernandez with the bigger match than Nyberg is notable. It could mean that for now Hernandez continues as Spains no 1, maybe resulting in a big game in CL MD2 as well.
Personally, I find the Scandinavian derby between Norway and Denmark a very appealing fixture, even though it is not generally considered a high-risk match where crowd trouble is likely. I had thought Sven Jablonski would continue to receive higher-profile appointments and be handed a League A fixture. This match, officiated by his fellow German Tobias Stieler, would certainly have fit the bill. But let's wait and see where Sven Jablonski is appointed next, perhaps to another League A match.
DeleteOT:
ReplyDeleteI was wondering, watching Romero’s and Bellingham’s almost simultaneous tackles (IMO Romero’s came a little bit earlier), how would you guys, in the confines of LOTG approach the situation, if both the tackles actually simultaneously.
I am aware of the wording in the part 5.3, which states the following:
[t]he referee:
punishes the more serious offence, in terms of sanction, restart, physical severity and tactical impact, when more than one offence occurs at the same time.
I am also aware of one Q&A case from IFAB, in which they were solving a situation, in which two players strike each other immediately in one’s penalty area. This situation apparently results in penalty kick, because the restart is more serious.
In the light of the above, I have two questions:
1. How would you solve the above mentioned situation?
2. By which part of the LOTG all the referees, which, in the case of mutual holding let the game flow? Because, by the wording in 5.3, SPA would be more serious in terms of tactics I guess, so YC and DFK for the attacking team would be by the law, but IMO not for the spirit of the game, and me, personally, I incline more for letting the game flow.
I may be missing some part of LOTG, but would appreciate yours opinion.
Thanks!
Delete1)Romero is borderline,YC and RC to me would have been acceptable
What I dont get is what exactly where they reviewing if not RC?
Mistaken identity?Well it was not Romero's teammate.
I think they went by the rules and considered that RC review and then he issued YC.
2)Kang In Lee-RC for sure and the fact that I here that Valverde needed to stay down and roll over.
That statements are such disgrace to the game.
Should we award players that are rolling over?
That way we are saying that theatricatility matters.
3)Huijsen's is also RC,the fact that he did not issue that at first reminded me of Kovacs and his Cubarsi yc/rc where both of them had thoughts about before and decided to make even more mistakes.
Holding was short, but clear and Simeone is not like Valverde to continue.
He falls right away and he and his team gets rewarded for that.
And about Mourinho..
Of course he will do that thing after the match,he has always been like that,for some maybe too much but you cant tell he was not right.
In my view, we need to analyze the Nations League appointments from a different perspective than the one above.
ReplyDeleteHistorically, this competition has often served as a testing ground for referees who aren't the very top though let me clarify what I mean: those jinside the Elite category, who rarely get crucial fixtures in the Champions League. This is maybe even more valid in these early matchdays, where everything is still taking shape.
Analyzed through this point of view, the assignment of the Canarian referee to the big match makes sense.
Meanwhile, Nyberg gets Serbia-Greece, which, while not a headliner on paper, could be extremely challenging, given his well-known officiating style, it promises to be a big test.
The same logic applies to the German referee in Norway just months before his international retirement, Rumsas being selected for Portugal, and so on. Not very first choices, but still Elite referees.
Regarding the Belgian assignment, I wanted to add: it looks like Lambrechts' injury might be a long one, can anyone share any details on that?
Also, unless I'm wrong, D'Hondt hasn't received a single fixture since that well-known incident months ago... It remains to be seen whether he will appear later in the competition, but in recent times refereeing in Belgium always seems to go through troubles for one reason or another.
Interesting situation for Turpin this week-end :
ReplyDeleteVAR call him for an OFR for potential hanball, the video is the audio btw VAR and Turpin, his final decision is no hanball because Dier touch it and deflect it into the arm of the defender. But the DTA, the french committee said thaht this should have been a PK. What do you think ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_-hPuM5Ex8
I actually think that referee who get different information, from their own country and from UEFA/FIFA are just lost for handball guidelines, and here an exemple where Turpin iis thinking that this deflection cancel the handball but the french committee says no, weird situation imo.
DeleteHandball. The deflection of the other defender is not decisive IMO. It could be different, if he really played the ball, but I don't think, the pure touch is a relevant factor in the assessment.
Delete