{"id":1450841,"date":"2026-06-09T11:47:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?post_type=news&#038;p=1450841"},"modified":"2026-06-09T12:06:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:06:00","slug":"world-cup-2026-referees-assistant-video-assistant-referees","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/world-cup\/world-cup-2026-referees-assistant-video-assistant-referees\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2026: Confirmed referees, assistants and VAR officials confirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>With the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/outright-markets\/world-cup-outright-odds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2026 World Cup<\/a> now just a matter of hours away, FIFA have confirmed the list of officials that will make up the refereeing team at the competition.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A total of 53 referees, 88 assistant referees and 28 video assistant referees will travel to the United States, Canada and Mexico to oversee a total of 104 matches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first batch of referees have been assigned for the tournament&#8217;s opening matches, and here is everything you need to know about those appointments as well as all the other officials present at the World Cup finals this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-this-week-s-world-cup-refereeing-appointments\">This week&#8217;s World Cup refereeing appointments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Mexico vs South Africa: <\/strong>Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>South Korea vs Czech Republic: <\/strong>Amin Mohamed (Egypt)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina: <\/strong>Facundo Tello (Argentina)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>United States vs Paraguay:<\/strong> Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2026-world-cup-referees-and-assistant-referees\">2026 World Cup referees and assistant referees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A total of 53 referees have been appointed by Fifa, with eight coming from the AFC, seven from CAF, nine from Concacaf, 12 from Conmebol, one from OFC and 15 from Uefa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each refereeing appointment has been paired with at least one assistant referee, normally from the same country but this isn&#8217;t always the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">England&#8217;s delegates are Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver, with Stuart Burt, James Mainwaring, Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn acting as the assistant referees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Confederation<\/th><th>Referee<\/th><th>Assistant Referee<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Omar Al Ali (United Arab Emirates)<\/td><td>Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)<\/td><td>Taleb Al-Marri (Qatar)<br>Saud Al-Maqaleh (Qatar)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Khalid Al-Turais (Saudi Arabia)<\/td><td>Mohammed Al-Bakry (Saudi Arabia)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Alireza Faghani (Australia)<\/td><td>George Lakrindis (Australia)<br>James Lindsay (Australia)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Ma Ning (China)<\/td><td>Zhou Fei (China)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)<\/td><td>Mohammad Al-Kalaf (Jordan)<br>Ahmad Al-Roalle (Jordan)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)<\/td><td>Timur Gaynullin (Uzbekistan)<br>Andrey Tsapenko (Uzbekistan)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Yusuke Araki (Japan)<\/td><td>Jun Mihara (Japan)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CAF<\/td><td>Omar Abdulkadir Artan (Somalia)<\/td><td>Elvis Noupue (Cameroon)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CAF<\/td><td>Pierre Atcho (Gabon)<\/td><td>Boris Ditsoga (Gabon)<br>Amos Abeigne Ndong (Gabon)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CAF<\/td><td>Dahane Beida (Mauritania)<\/td><td>Jerson Emiliano dos Santos (Angola)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CAF<\/td><td>Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)<\/td><td>Mokrane Gourari (Algeria)<br>Abbes Akram Zerhouni (Algeria)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CAF<\/td><td>Jalal Jayed (Morocco)<\/td><td>Zakaria Brinsi (Morocco)<br>Mostafa Akarkad (Morocco)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CAF<\/td><td>Amin Mohamed Omar (Egypt)<\/td><td>Mahmoud Abouregal (Egypt)<br>Ahmed Hossam Taha (Egypt)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CAF<\/td><td>Abongile Tom (South Africa)<\/td><td>Zakhele Siwela (South Africa)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Iv\u00e1n Barton (El Salvador)<\/td><td>avid Mor\u00e1n (El Salvador)<br>Henry Pupiro (Nicaragua)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Juan Gabriel Calder\u00f3n (Costa Rica)<\/td><td>Juan Carlos Mora (Costa Rica)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Ismail Elfath (United States)<\/td><td>Corey Parker (United States)<br>Kyle Atkins (United States)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Oshane Nation (Jamaica)<\/td><td>Caleb Wales (Trinidad and Tobago)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Drew Fischer (Canada)<\/td><td>Lyes Arfa (Canada)<br>Micheal Barwegen (Canada)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Katia Itzel Garc\u00eda (Mexico)<\/td><td>Sandra Ram\u00edrez (Mexico)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Sa\u00edd Mart\u00ednez (Honduras)<\/td><td>Walter L\u00f3pez (Honduras)<br>Christian Ram\u00edrez (Honduras)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Tori Penso (United States)<\/td><td>Kathryn Nesbitt (United States)<br>Brooke Mayo (United States)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>C\u00e9sar Arturo Ramos (Mexico)<\/td><td>Alberto Mor\u00edn (Mexico)<br>Marco Bisguerra (Mexico)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Ramon Abatti (Brazil)<\/td><td>Rafael Alves (Brazil)<br>Danilo Manis (Brazil)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Juan Gabriel Ben\u00edtez (Paraguay)<\/td><td>Eduardo Cardozo (Paraguay)<br>Milc\u00edades Sald\u00edvar (Paraguay)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Raphael Claus (Brazil)<\/td><td>Rodrigo Figueiredo (Brazil)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Yael Falc\u00f3n (Argentina)<\/td><td>Facundo Rodr\u00edguez (Argentina)<br>Maximiliano Del Yesso (Argentina)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Cristi\u00e1n Garay (Chile)<\/td><td>Jos\u00e9 Retamal (Chile)<br>Miguel Rocha (Chile)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Dar\u00edo Herrera (Argentina)<\/td><td>Cristian Navarro (Argentina)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Kevin Ortega (Peru)<\/td><td>Michael Oru\u00e9 (Peru)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Andr\u00e9s Rojas (Colombia)<\/td><td>Alexander Guzm\u00e1n (Colombia)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)<\/td><td>Bruno Boschilia (Brazil)<br>Bruno Pires (Brazil)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Gustavo Tejera (Uruguay)<\/td><td>Nicol\u00e1s Tar\u00e1n (Uruguay)<br>Carlos Barreiro (Uruguay)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Facundo Tello (Argentina)<\/td><td>Juan Pablo Belatti (Argentina)<br>Gabriel Chade (Argentina)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Jes\u00fas Valenzuela (Venezuela)<\/td><td>Jorge Urrego (Venezuela)<br>Tulio Moreno (Venezuela)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>OFC<\/td><td>Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)<\/td><td>Isaac Trevis (New Zealand)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Espen Esk\u00e5s (Norway)<\/td><td>Jan Erik Engan (Norway)<br>Isaak Bashevkin (Norway)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Alejandro Hern\u00e1ndez Hern\u00e1ndez (Spain)<\/td><td>Jos\u00e9 Enrique Naranjo P\u00e9rez (Spain)<br>Diego S\u00e1nchez Rojo (Spain)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Istv\u00e1n Kov\u00e1cs (Romania)<\/td><td>Mihai Marius Marica (Romania)<br>Ferencz Tunyogi (Romania)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Fran\u00e7ois Letexier (France)<\/td><td>Cyril Mugnier (France)<br>Mehdi Rahmouni (France)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)<\/td><td>Hessel Steegstra (Netherlands)<br>Jan de Vries (Netherlands)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Szymon Marciniak (Poland)<\/td><td>Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland)<br>Adam Kupsik (Poland)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Maurizio Mariani (Italy)<\/td><td>Daniele Bindoni (Italy)<br>Alberto Tegoni (Italy)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)<\/td><td>Mahbod Beigi (Sweden)<br>Andreas S\u00f6derkvist (Sweden)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Michael Oliver (England)<\/td><td>Stuart Burt (England)<br>James Mainwaring (England)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Jo\u00e3o Pinheiro (Portugal)<\/td><td>Bruno Jesus (Portugal)<br>Luciano Maia (Portugal)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Sandro Sch\u00e4rer (Switzerland)<\/td><td>St\u00e9phane De Almeida (Switzerland)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Anthony Taylor (England)<\/td><td>Gary Beswick (England)<br>Adam Nunn (England)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Cl\u00e9ment Turpin (France)<\/td><td>Nicolas Danos (France)<br>Benjamin Pag\u00e8s (France)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Slavko Vin\u010di\u0107 (Slovenia)<\/td><td>Toma\u017e Klan\u010dnik (Slovenia)<br>Andra\u017e Kova\u010di\u010d (Slovenia)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Felix Zwayer (Germany)<\/td><td>Robert Kempter (Germany)<br>Christian Dietz (Germany)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2026-world-cup-video-assistant-referees\">2026 World Cup video assistant referees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A total of 28 video assistant referees have been appointed by Fifa, with four coming from the AFC, two from CAF, four from Concacaf, seven from Conmebol and 11 from Uefa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">England&#8217;s delegate is Jarred Gillett, who originally refereed in Australia&#8217;s A-League before moving to the Premier League in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Confederation<\/th><th>Video assistant referee<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Abdullah Al-Shehri (Saudi Arabia)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Shaun Evans (Australia)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>AFC<\/td><td>Fu Ming (China)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CAF<\/td><td>Mahmoud Ashour (Egypt)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CAF<\/td><td>Hamza El Fariq (Morocco)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Joe Dickerson (United States)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Armando Villarreal (United States)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Erick Miranda (Mexico)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Concacaf<\/td><td>Tatiana Guzm\u00e1n (Nicaragua)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Juan Lara (Chile)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Hern\u00e1n Mastr\u00e1ngelo (Argentina)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Antonio Garc\u00eda (Uruguay)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Leod\u00e1n Gonz\u00e1lez (Uruguay)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Juan Soto (Venezuela)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Nicol\u00e1s Gallo (Colombia)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Conmebol<\/td><td>Rodolpho Toski (Brazil)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>J\u00e9r\u00f4me Brisard (France)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Willy Delajod (France)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Bastian Dankert (Germany)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Marco Di Bello (Italy)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Ivan Bebek (Croatia)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Jarred Gillett (England)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Dennis Higler (Netherlands)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Tomasz Kwiatkowski (Poland)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Bram Van Driessche (Belgium)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Uefa<\/td><td>Fedayi San (Switzerland)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<h3><strong>Read more:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/bet\/football-tips\/world-cup-2026-betting-tips-predictions\/\"><strong>World Cup predictions &amp; tips<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/outright-markets\/world-cup-outright-odds\/\"><strong>World Cup outright odds <\/strong><\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/world-cup-2026-fixtures-results\/\"><b>World Cup fixtures &amp; results<\/b><\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/world-cup-2026-betting-offers\/\"><b>World Cup free bets<\/b><\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n    <div class=\"sq-top-stories\">\n        <h2 class=\"sq-heading-line\">Squawka Suggests<\/h2>\n        <div class=\"sq-cards\">\n\t\t\t                    <article class=\"sq-card\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t                            <div class=\"sq-card__thumbnail\">\n                                <a 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size-thumbnail\" alt=\"World Cup Third Place Playoff Bet Builder Tips: 15\/2 Bet Builder ends the tournament for both sides\" \/>                                <\/a>\n                            <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t                        <div class=\"sq-card__content\">\n                            <div class=\"sq-card__meta\">\n                                <span class=\"sq-card__label\">News<\/span>\n                                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/world-cup\/world-cup-third-place-playoff-bet-builder\/\" class=\"sq-card__title\">\n                                    <h2 class=\"sq-card__title-text\">World Cup Third Place Playoff Bet Builder Tips: 15\/2 Bet Builder ends the tournament for both sides<\/h2>\n                                <\/a>\n                            <\/div>\n                            <div class=\"sq-card__excerpt\">\n                                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/author\/andrewfrancis\/\"\n                                   class=\"sq-card__link\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Andy Francis                                <\/a>\n                                <time class=\"sq-card__label\">7 hours ago<\/time>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <\/div>\n                    <\/article>\n\t\t\t\t        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the 2026 World Cup now just a matter of hours away, FIFA have confirmed the list of officials that will make up the refereeing team at the competition. A total of 53 referees, 88 assistant referees and 28 video assistant referees will travel to the United States, Canada and Mexico to oversee a total&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":1450856,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Fifa have confirmed all referee appointments for the 2026 World Cup. 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