The FIFA World Cup 2026 will not only feature the best players and managers in international football, but also the largest group of match officials ever selected for a FIFA World Cup. With the tournament expanding to 48 teams and 104 matches across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, FIFA has appointed a record number of referees, assistant referees, and video match officials to oversee the competition.
Following a selection process that lasted more than three years, FIFA officially announced the final list of officials on 9 April 2026. The group represents all six confederations and includes some of the most experienced referees in world football alongside several officials making their World Cup debuts.
World Cup 2026 Match Officials Overview
| Category | Number Selected |
|---|---|
| Referees | 52 |
| Assistant Referees | 88 |
| Video Match Officials (VAR) | 30 |
| Total Match Officials | 170 |
| Member Associations Represented | 50 |
| Confederations Represented | 6 |
The 170 officials selected for the tournament form FIFA's largest-ever World Cup officiating team. FIFA stated that appointments were based on quality, consistency, fitness, and performances in domestic leagues, continental competitions, and international tournaments.
Referees (Match Officials)
Several of the world's most recognizable referees have been selected for the tournament. Many already have World Cup, UEFA Champions League, Copa América, or continental championship experience.
| Referee | Country | Confederation |
|---|---|---|
| Mustapha Ghorbal | Algeria | CAF |
| Yael Falcón Pérez | Argentina | CONMEBOL |
| Darío Herrera | Argentina | CONMEBOL |
| Facundo Tello | Argentina | CONMEBOL |
| Alireza Faghani | Australia | AFC |
| Raphael Claus | Brazil | CONMEBOL |
| Wilton Sampaio | Brazil | CONMEBOL |
| Drew Fischer | Canada | CONCACAF |
| Cristian Garay | Chile | CONMEBOL |
| Ma Ning | China | AFC |
| Andrés Rojas | Colombia | CONMEBOL |
| Juan Calderón | Costa Rica | CONCACAF |
| Jean Jacques Ndala | DR Congo | CAF |
| Amin Mohamed Omar | Egypt | CAF |
| Ivan Barton | El Salvador | CONCACAF |
| Clément Turpin | France | UEFA |
| François Letexier | France | UEFA |
| Pierre Atcho | Gabon | CAF |
| Felix Zwayer | Germany | UEFA |
| Bastian Dankert | Germany | UEFA |
| Said Martínez | Honduras | CONCACAF |
| Yusuke Araki | Japan | AFC |
| Adham Makhadmeh | Jordan | AFC |
| César Ramos | Mexico | CONCACAF |
| Katia Itzel García | Mexico | CONCACAF |
| Jalal Jayed | Morocco | CAF |
| Dahane Beida | Mauritania | CAF |
| Rohit Saggi | Norway | UEFA |
| Oshane Nation | Jamaica | CONCACAF |
| Szymon Marciniak | Poland | UEFA |
| István Kovács | Romania | UEFA |
| Khalid Al Turais | Saudi Arabia | AFC |
| Issa Sy | Senegal | CAF |
| Slavko Vinčić | Slovenia | UEFA |
| Omar Abdulkadir Artan | Somalia | CAF |
| José María Sánchez | Spain | UEFA |
| Jesús Gil Manzano | Spain | UEFA |
| Anthony Taylor | England | UEFA |
| Michael Oliver | England | UEFA |
| Abdulrahman Al Jassim | Qatar | AFC |
| Omar Al Ali | United Arab Emirates | AFC |
| Ismail Elfath | United States | CONCACAF |
| Joseph Dickerson | United States | CONCACAF |
| Tori Penso | United States | CONCACAF |
| Gustavo Tejera | Uruguay | CONMEBOL |
| Ilgiz Tantashev | Uzbekistan | AFC |
| Jesús Valenzuela | Venezuela | CONMEBOL |
| Juan Gabriel Benítez | Paraguay | CONMEBOL |
| Kevin Ortega | Peru | CONMEBOL |
| Mario Escobar | Guatemala | CONCACAF |
| Khalil Al Ghamdi | Saudi Arabia | AFC |
| Víctor Rivas | United States | CONCACAF |
Assistant Referees
| Assistant Referee | Country | Confederation |
|---|---|---|
| Amos Abeigne | Gabon | CAF |
| Mahmoud Abouelregal | Egypt | CAF |
| Mostafa Akarkad | Morocco | CAF |
| Mohammed Al Abakry | Saudi Arabia | AFC |
| Mohamed Al Hammadi | United Arab Emirates | AFC |
| Mohammad Al Kalaf | Jordan | AFC |
| Saoud Al Maqaleh | Qatar | AFC |
| Taleb Al Marri | Qatar | AFC |
| Ahmad Al Roalle | Jordan | AFC |
| Lyes Arfa | Canada | CONCACAF |
| Kyle Atkins | United States | CONCACAF |
| Carlos Barreiro | Uruguay | CONMEBOL |
| Micheal Barwegen | Canada | CONCACAF |
| Isaak Bashevkin | Norway | UEFA |
| Adam Kupsik | Poland | UEFA |
| Mahbod Beigi | Sweden | UEFA |
| Juan Pablo Belatti | Argentina | CONMEBOL |
| Gary Beswick | England | UEFA |
| Daniele Bindoni | Italy | UEFA |
| Marco Bisguerra | Mexico | CONCACAF |
| Zakaria Brinsi | Morocco | CAF |
| Bruno Boschilia | Brazil | CONMEBOL |
| Bruno Pires | Brazil | CONMEBOL |
| Stuart Burt | England | UEFA |
| Eduardo Cardozo | Paraguay | CONMEBOL |
| Gabriel Chade | Argentina | CONMEBOL |
| Danilo Manis | Brazil | CONMEBOL |
| Nicolas Danos | France | UEFA |
| Stephane De Almeida | Switzerland | UEFA |
| Jan De Vries | Netherlands | UEFA |
| Maximiliano Del Yesso | Argentina | CONMEBOL |
| Christian Dietz | Germany | UEFA |
| Boris Ditsoga | Gabon | CAF |
| Jan Erik Engan | Norway | UEFA |
| Rodrigo Figueiredo | Brazil | CONMEBOL |
| Timur Gaynullin | Uzbekistan | AFC |
| Mokrane Gourari | Algeria | CAF |
| Alexander Guzman | Colombia | CONMEBOL |
| Ahmed Hossam Taha | Egypt | CAF |
| Jerson Santos | Angola | CAF |
| Bruno Jesus | Portugal | UEFA |
| Robert Kempter | Germany | UEFA |
| Tomaz Klancnik | Slovenia | UEFA |
| Andraz Kovacic | Slovenia | UEFA |
| George Lakrindis | Australia | AFC |
| James Lindsay | Australia | AFC |
| Tomasz Listkiewicz | Poland | UEFA |
| Walter Lopez | Honduras | CONCACAF |
| Luciano Maia | Portugal | UEFA |
| James Mainwaring | England | UEFA |
| Mihai Marica | Romania | UEFA |
| Brooke Mayo | United States | CONCACAF |
| Jun Mihara | Japan | AFC |
| Juan Carlos Mora | Costa Rica | CONCACAF |
| David Moran | El Salvador | CONCACAF |
| Tulio Moreno | Venezuela | CONMEBOL |
| Alberto Morin | Mexico | CONCACAF |
| Cyril Mugnier | France | UEFA |
| Jose Enrique Naranjo Perez | Spain | UEFA |
| Cristian Navarro | Argentina | CONMEBOL |
| Kathryn Nesbitt | United States | CONCACAF |
| Elvis Noupue | Cameroon | CAF |
| Adam Nunn | England | UEFA |
| Michael Orue | Peru | CONMEBOL |
| Benjamin Pages | France | UEFA |
| Corey Parker | United States | CONCACAF |
| Antonio Pupiro | Nicaragua | CONCACAF |
| Rafael Alves | Brazil | CONMEBOL |
| Mehdi Rahmouni | France | UEFA |
| Christian Ramirez | Honduras | CONCACAF |
| Sandra Ramirez | Mexico | CONCACAF |
| Jose Retamal | Chile | CONMEBOL |
| Miguel Rocha | Chile | CONMEBOL |
| Facundo Rodriguez | Argentina | CONMEBOL |
| Milciades Saldivar | Paraguay | CONMEBOL |
| Diego Sanchez | Spain | UEFA |
| Zakhele Siwela | South Africa | CAF |
| Andreas Soderkvist | Sweden | UEFA |
| Hessel Steegstra | Netherlands | UEFA |
| Nicolas Taran | Uruguay | CONMEBOL |
| Alberto Tegoni | Italy | UEFA |
| Isaac Trevis | New Zealand | OFC |
| Andrey Tsapenko | Uzbekistan | AFC |
| Ferencz Tunyogi | Romania | UEFA |
| Jorge Urrego | Venezuela | CONMEBOL |
| Caleb Wales | Trinidad and Tobago | CONCACAF |
| Abbes Akram Zerhouni | Algeria | CAF |
| Fei Zhou | China | AFC |
Video Match Officials
| Video Match Official | Country | Confederation |
|---|---|---|
| Khamis Al-Marri | Qatar | AFC |
| Abdullah Alshehri | Saudi Arabia | AFC |
| Mahmoud Ashour | Egypt | CAF |
| Ivan Bebek | Croatia | UEFA |
| Jerome Brisard | France | UEFA |
| Bastian Dankert | Germany | UEFA |
| Carlos Del Cerro Grande | Spain | UEFA |
| Marco Di Bello | Italy | UEFA |
| Rob Dieperink | Netherlands | UEFA |
| Dennis Higler | Netherlands | UEFA |
| Tomasz Kwiatkowski | Poland | UEFA |
| Fedayi San | Switzerland | UEFA |
| Bram Van Driessche | Belgium | UEFA |
| Joe Dickerson | United States | CONCACAF |
| Tatiana Guzman | Nicaragua | CONCACAF |
| Erick Miranda | Mexico | CONCACAF |
| Guillermo Pacheco | Mexico | CONCACAF |
| Armando Villarreal | United States | CONCACAF |
| Nicolas Gallo | Colombia | CONMEBOL |
| Antonio Garcia | Uruguay | CONMEBOL |
| Leodan Gonzalez | Uruguay | CONMEBOL |
| Juan Soto | Venezuela | CONMEBOL |
| Rodolpho Toski | Brazil | CONMEBOL |
| Hamza El Fariq | Morocco | CAF |
| Shaun Evans | Australia | AFC |
| Fu Ming | China | AFC |
| Jarred Gillett | England | UEFA |
| Juan Lara | Chile | CONMEBOL |
| Hernan Mastrangelo | Argentina | CONMEBOL |
| Mohammed Obaid Khadim | United Arab Emirates | AFC |
Many of these officials previously worked at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, UEFA EURO 2024, Copa América, Olympic tournaments, and FIFA Club World Cups. Several are considered contenders to referee matches in the latter stages of the tournament.
Female Officials at World Cup 2026
FIFA continues its push toward greater diversity among match officials. The 2026 World Cup includes female referees and assistant referees who earned appointments based on performances in elite men's and women's competitions.
Among the most notable names is American referee Tori Penso, who previously officiated the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Final and has become one of the highest-rated officials in international football. Mexican referee Katia García is also part of the selected group.
| Name | Role | Country | Confederation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tori Penso | Referee | United States | CONCACAF |
| Katia Itzel García | Referee | Mexico | CONCACAF |
| Kathryn Nesbitt | Assistant Referee | United States | CONCACAF |
| Brooke Mayo | Assistant Referee | United States | CONCACAF |
| Sandra Ramírez | Assistant Referee | Mexico | CONCACAF |
| Tatiana Guzmán | Video Match Official | Nicaragua | CONCACAF |
Video Match Officials (VAR)
Video Assistant Referees will play a major role throughout the tournament. FIFA appointed 30 dedicated video match officials who will operate from centralized VAR facilities and support on-field referees during matches.
The 2026 World Cup is expected to feature the latest version of semi-automated offside technology alongside enhanced VAR systems designed to improve decision speed and accuracy. FIFA has also tested additional innovations in the years leading up to the tournament.
How FIFA Selected the Officials
FIFA's referee preparation programme began years before the tournament. Officials were continuously monitored across domestic leagues, continental competitions, FIFA tournaments, and international fixtures.
Selection criteria included:
- Consistency of decision-making
- Physical fitness standards
- Performance in major competitions
- Match management ability
- VAR proficiency
- Communication and teamwork
According to FIFA, only officials who consistently performed at the highest level over several seasons were included in the final list.
Officials to Watch
Several referees arrive at the tournament with strong reputations and significant experience on the biggest stages of football.
- Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
- Michael Oliver (England)
- Anthony Taylor (England)
- Clément Turpin (France)
- Jesús Valenzuela (Venezuela)
- Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)
- Alireza Faghani (Australia)
- César Ramos (Mexico)
Strong performances during the group stage often determine which referees advance to knockout matches and potentially the World Cup Final itself.
Why Referees Matter at the World Cup
With 104 matches scheduled across three host nations, officiating consistency will be more important than ever. Referees must manage high-pressure environments, handle intense scrutiny from players and coaches, and make split-second decisions that can change the outcome of entire tournaments.
As football continues to evolve through technology and faster gameplay, the role of referees and VAR teams becomes increasingly significant. The officials selected for World Cup 2026 will help ensure the tournament is played fairly, consistently, and at the highest professional standard.