2027 Under 21 Euro Qualifiers, September 2026.
Thursday 24 March 2026
Group I
20:00 CET - Westerlo (Het Kuipje)
BELGIUM vs. BELARUS
Referee: Martin Velikov BUL
Assistant Referee 1: Krasimir Atanasov BUL
Assistant Referee 2: Hristo Hadzhiyski BUL
Fourth Official: Ventsislav Mitrev BUL
Assistant Referee 2: Hristo Hadzhiyski BUL
Fourth Official: Ventsislav Mitrev BUL
UEFA Referee Observer: Dejan Filipović SRB
UEFA Delegate: Bart van Soest NED
Group A
20:30 CET - Serravalle (San Marino Stadium)
SAN MARINO vs. KOSOVO
Referee: David Fuxman ISR
Assistant Referee 1: Matityahu Yakobov ISR
Assistant Referee 2: Guy Klipper ISR
Fourth Official: Dekel Zino ISR
UEFA Referee Observer: Clayton Pisani MLT
UEFA Delegate: Fróði Danielsen FRO
Friday 25 September 2026
Group B
15:45 CET - Baku (Bank Respublika Arena)
AZERBAIJAN vs. CZECHIA
Referee: Aaron O'Dowd IRL
Assistant Referee 1: Darragh Keegan IRL
Assistant Referee 2: Shane Gerard O'Brien IRL
Fourth Official: Paul Norton IRL
UEFA Referee Observer: Alexandre Boucaut BEL
UEFA Delegate: Natallia Varabjova BLR
Group C
17:00 CET - Reykjavík (Pepsi-völlurinn)
ICELAND vs. FRANCE
Referee: Luca Zufferli ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Giuseppe Perrotti ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Khaled Bahri ITA
Fourth Official: Daniele Perenzoni ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Lutz Michael Fröhlich GER
UEFA Delegate: Mark Heap ENG
Group A
17:30 CET - Tampere (Tammelan Stadion)
FINLAND vs. SPAIN
Referee:
Assistant Referee 1:
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official:
UEFA Referee Observer: Ladislav Gádoši SVK
UEFA Delegate: Stijn Hutsebaut BEL
Group B
17:30 CET - Pazardzhik (Georgi Benkovski Stadium)
BULGARIA vs. PORTUGAL
Referee: Ihar Šumilaŭ BLR
Assistant Referee 1: Dzmitryj Žuk BLR
Assistant Referee 2: Maksim Arabiej BLR
Fourth Official: Anton Lašuk BLR
UEFA Referee Observer: Nicolae Grigorescu ROU
UEFA Delegate: Davit Datunashvili GEO
Group A
18:00 CET - Larnaca (AEK Arena - Geórgios Karapatákis)
CYPRUS vs. ROMANIA
Referee: Lukáš Dzivjak SVK
Assistant Referee 1: Ákos Juhos SVK
Assistant Referee 2: Patrik Kmec SVK
Fourth Official: Filip Glova SVK
UEFA Referee Observer: Laurent Duhamel FRA
UEFA Delegate: Hayk Karapetyan ARM
Group C
18:00 CET - Pärnu (Pärnu Rannastaadion)
ESTONIA vs. FAROE ISLANDS
Referee: Kristaps Ratnieks LVA
Assistant Referee 1: Arturs Šakurovs LVA
Assistant Referee 2: Nikita Ivlevs LVA
Fourth Official: Aleksandrs Anufrijevs LVA
UEFA Referee Observer: Ferenc Székely HUN
UEFA Delegate: Danny Meenan IRL
Group D
18:00 CET - Košice (Košická Futbalová Aréna)
SLOVAKIA vs. REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Referee: Viktor Kopiyevsʹkyy UKR
Assistant Referee 1: Semen Shlonchak UKR
Assistant Referee 2: Viktor Nyzhnyk UKR
Fourth Official: Dmytro Panchyshyn UKR
UEFA Referee Observer: Mika Peltola FIN
UEFA Delegate: Doychin Bahov BUL
Group G
18:30 CET - Deventer (De Adelaarshorst)
NETHERLANDS vs. NORWAY
Referee: Márton Rúsz HUN
Assistant Referee 1: István Albert HUN
Assistant Referee 2: Gergő Vígh-Tarsonyi HUN
Fourth Official: Márió Zimmermann HUN
UEFA Referee Observer: Paolo Dondarini ITA
UEFA Delegate: Jürgen Igelspacher GER
Group C
19:30 CET - Lugano (AIL Arena)
SWITZERLAND vs. LUXEMBOURG
Referee: Alex Johnson MLT
Assistant Referee 1: Kurt Saliba MLT
Assistant Referee 2: David Castillo MLT
Fourth Official: Ezekiel Barbara MLT
UEFA Referee Observer: Alieh Čykun BLR
UEFA Delegate: Christoph Kern GER
Group D
20:30 CET - Wolverhampton (Molineux Stadium)
ENGLAND vs. KAZAKHSTAN
Referee: Mateo Tozan SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Manuel Vidali SVN
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official: Žan Jazbec SVN
UEFA Referee Observer: Stávros Mándalos GRE
UEFA Delegate: Patrizia Friese GER
Pol van Boekel spoke openly to the media about an incident (Ajax-PSV) that took place a few weeks ago. Opinions may vary, but the way he speaks is truly characteristic of him, once again underscoring his strong personality.
ReplyDelete"Should I have done it differently? If I say yes, it’s purely based on the uproar that ensued. If you ask a hundred people whether they think it warrants a red or yellow card, the majority will say red. So, if I say I got it wrong, I’ll have more people on my side. But I analyzed the situation based on the criteria we apply, and I would probably do exactly the same thing again today."
"Afterwards, I got up from my chair thinking I’d done the right thing, but then you hear the words analysts use... It’s part of the job, though certainly the least pleasant aspect. I rise above it. What I find harder to deal with is my daughters—aged 18 and 15—being confronted about it. That’s unfair; they didn’t ask for a father with this profession."
"I could go on talking for half an hour, trying to explain exactly how I experienced and analyzed that foul based on the criteria, but when your boss (Raymond van Meenen) publicly declares that you made a mistake, what is there left for me to say? It was his choice to use those words. I would have handled it differently."
https://www.espn.nl/voetbal/artikel/_/id/17284915/var-na-overtreding-op-bouwman-waarschijnlijk-weer-precies-hetzelfde-doen
As some may recall, a few years ago he described the feeling of being summoned to the monitor by VAR as a "mindfuck." In his role as a VAR, he truly aims to be as invisible as possible, and that is precisely why he is so highly regarded.
Pol van Boekel’s career as a referee has already ended. I suppose his career as a VAR will end after this interview, too. Mistakes can happen, but the lack of self-reflection and the dressing-down of his superior are concerning.
DeleteVan Boekel will never admit a mistake.
DeleteIn my opinion van boekel is one of the top three VARs in Europe. Mistakes and controversial decisions are part of football but that should not overshadow the quality and experience he brings to the VAR role.Lets hope he will continue at the highest level for many more years
DeleteWell, in my view, VanBoekel is among the more controversial VARs, particularly when it comes to overanalysing incidents, hiding behind protocol, and somehow never admitting an error afterwards.
DeleteAs for Scott, given your pro-Gozu agenda, I suppose Van Boekel was always going to get a fairly sympathetic review :-)
As CTA has confirmed, a lot of what was being said about Ortiz’s controversial performance and questionable decisions was justified. I highly doubt we’ll be seeing him officiating many high-profile matches for a while, especially when it comes to games involving Spain’s “big three.”
ReplyDeleteThe clearest admission concerns the challenge on Valverde, which left him injured.
DeleteKang-In Lee's tackle was not punished by Ortiz Arias during the match, and the incident was not sent to the referee for a VAR review either. The CTA now considers the challenge serious enough to warrant a straight red card.
Meanwhile, the committee has accepted that Huijsen's foul on Giuliano Simeone warranted a red card. The Real Madrid defender conceded the penalty after grabbing his opponent while not attempting to play the ball.
Ortiz Arias awarded the spot-kick but did not initially dismiss Huijsen. VAR subsequently intervened, and the red card was eventually shown.
The situation involving Cristian Romero is more complicated.
Notably, Ortiz Arias initially appeared to identify the wrong player during the incident involving Jude Bellingham.
He awarded a foul against the Real Madrid midfielder and showed him a yellow card before VAR intervention established that Romero had actually committed the foul.
The incident was then reviewed as a potential red-card offence. However, Ortiz Arias ultimately decided against dismissing the Atletico player.
As per the outlet, the CTA has accepted the decision rather than placing the full blame on the referee, describing the incident as confusing.