World Cup 2026 Referee Selection

Why not? Probably about a year out from selection and the discussion got going in the UEFA thread here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/u...ns-2024-2025-rs.2132014/page-12#post-42859061 Candidates attending the most recent UEFA seminar are in that post. When I or someone else has time, we can go back and pull some other data points and confederational attendees. This post is useful for knowing how many officials are to be selected per continent, though horse trading of one or two spots has happened right at the end for some of the most recent tournaments, so it's a guide and not written in stone: Una vez definido el formato del Mundial2026 FIFA empezará el proceso de selección y preparación de árbitro para el torneo. Inicialmente se plantarían 39 árbitros + 9 reservas como selección final para el mismo. Por CONMEBOL serían 8+1.AFC, CAF, CONCACAF 6+2 OFC 1+1UEFA 12+1— ArbitroInternacional (@ArbitroInteBlog) March 14, 2023 @Mikael_Referee please feel free to add anything useful at the moment, particularly from CAF/AFC/OFC/CONMEBOL!

It looks like Joe Dickerson has passed Armando up. Maybe they have him leaning more towards the VAR booth now. Let's hope that Ortiz damaging his spot with the Messi situation helps Armando though.It won't. To be blunt, FIFA is done with Villarreal as a referee. It's not so much that Dickerson has passed Villarreal, necessarily; it's just that Villarreal's time is up. Dickerson is on the candidate list--which was a surprise to me, honestly--as a backup to Elfath and, seemingly, as planning for 2030. But there's almost no scenario where Villarreal gets back in the fold, from what I understand and observe. And a Mexican sinking his own chances plays no role here--if that does anything, it just elevates someone else as the backup Mexican. And all that might be irrelevant because of Ramos' position and my belief that Garcia will likely go as a reserve. I should add, because the above paragraph might be misintepreted, that Villarreal will likely be a top VAR at WC26. It's not that FIFA is done with him overall, but he just doesn't have a path to getting a whistle.

Candidates by confederation: CONCACAF: Ivan Barton (slv), Juan Gabriel Calderon (crc), Joseph Dickerson (usa), Ismail Elfath (usa), Mario Escobar (gua), Drew Fisher (can), Katia Garcia (mex), Keylor Herrera (crc), Walter Lopez (gua), Said Martinez (hon), Oshane Nation (jam), Tori Penso (usa), Cesar Ramos (mex), Kwinsi Williams (tri). Marco Ortiz (mex) was also present but his consideration must now be over. CONMEBOL: Ramon Abatti (bra), Augusto Aragon (ecu), Juan Benitez (par), Raphael Claus (bra), Yael Falcon (arg), Cristian Garay (chi), Dario Herrera (arg), Alexis Herrera (ven), Andres Matonte (uru), Piero Maza (chi), Ivo Mendez (bol), Kevin Ortega (per), John Ospina (col), Roberto Perez (per), Andres Rojas (col), Wilton Sampaio (bra), Gustavo Tejera (uru), Facundo Tello (arg), Jesus Valenzuela (ven). AFC: Ahmed Al-Kaf (oma), Ahmad Al-Ali (kuw), Omar Al-Ali (uae), Mohammed Al-Hoish (ksa), Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (qat), Adel Al-Naqbi (uae), Khalid Al-Turais (ksa), Yusuke Araki (jpn), Alireza Faghani (irn), Salman Fallahi (qat), Kim Jong-hyeok (kor), Adham Makhadmah (jor), Nazmi Nasaruddin (mas), Ma Ning (chn), Ilgiz Tantashev (uzb). CAF: Omar Artan (som), Pierre Atcho (gab), Dahane Beida (mtn), Youcef Gamouh (alg), Mustapha Ghorbal (alg), Mahmood Ismail (sud), Jalal Jayed (mar), Mohamed Maarouf (egy), Alhadji Mahamat (cha), Tanguy Mebiame (gab), Ibrahim Mutaz (lby), Jean-Jacques Ndala (drc), Amin Omar (egy), Issa Sy (sen), Abongile Tom (rsa). OFC: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (nzl), Ben Aukwai (sol). And finally the UEFA list can be found on the link posted by @RedStar91.If Ramos goes it will be his third WC. Say what you will about him, FIFA seems to trust him. He did a Round of 16 match in 2018 and a SF in 2022.

Candidates by confederation: CONCACAF: Ivan Barton (slv), Juan Gabriel Calderon (crc), Joseph Dickerson (usa), Ismail Elfath (usa), Mario Escobar (gua), Drew Fisher (can), Katia Garcia (mex), Keylor Herrera (crc), Walter Lopez (gua), Said Martinez (hon), Oshane Nation (jam), Tori Penso (usa), Cesar Ramos (mex), Kwinsi Williams (tri). Marco Ortiz (mex) was also present but his consideration must now be over. CONMEBOL: Ramon Abatti (bra), Augusto Aragon (ecu), Juan Benitez (par), Raphael Claus (bra), Yael Falcon (arg), Cristian Garay (chi), Dario Herrera (arg), Alexis Herrera (ven), Andres Matonte (uru), Piero Maza (chi), Ivo Mendez (bol), Kevin Ortega (per), John Ospina (col), Roberto Perez (per), Andres Rojas (col), Wilton Sampaio (bra), Gustavo Tejera (uru), Facundo Tello (arg), Jesus Valenzuela (ven). AFC: Ahmed Al-Kaf (oma), Ahmad Al-Ali (kuw), Omar Al-Ali (uae), Mohammed Al-Hoish (ksa), Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (qat), Adel Al-Naqbi (uae), Khalid Al-Turais (ksa), Yusuke Araki (jpn), Alireza Faghani (irn), Salman Fallahi (qat), Kim Jong-hyeok (kor), Adham Makhadmah (jor), Nazmi Nasaruddin (mas), Ma Ning (chn), Ilgiz Tantashev (uzb). CAF: Omar Artan (som), Pierre Atcho (gab), Dahane Beida (mtn), Youcef Gamouh (alg), Mustapha Ghorbal (alg), Mahmood Ismail (sud), Jalal Jayed (mar), Mohamed Maarouf (egy), Alhadji Mahamat (cha), Tanguy Mebiame (gab), Ibrahim Mutaz (lby), Jean-Jacques Ndala (drc), Amin Omar (egy), Issa Sy (sen), Abongile Tom (rsa). OFC: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (nzl), Ben Aukwai (sol). And finally the UEFA list can be found on the link posted by @RedStar91.

I'm biased as an American but I'm genuinely curious how Barton continues to be kept at such high levels. He has howler after howler in CONCACAF competitions. His temperature management is... lacking.Tune in tonight to find out!

No Armando makes me sad, he’s a top ref.It looks like Joe Dickerson has passed Armando up. Maybe they have him leaning more towards the VAR booth now. Let's hope that Ortiz damaging his spot with the Messi situation helps Armando though.

Wasn't there an Ethiopian or Eritrean referee that did very well at the last AFCON? Youngish guy but we were all very high on his management of some difficult games and he progressed further than anyone expected. Also, I remember the OFC qualification tournament had 3 NZL referees, one of them being Calvin Berg that was born in Texas. Kawana-Waugh is another. Who was the 3rd?

What are your guys thoughts on Dickerson as a ref since you say “surprisingly”?Surprisingly because he's never been to a FIFA event as a referee. And within CONCACAF, Vazquez was the referee who went to Gold Cup behind Villarreal. And Rivas was the other American referee who had a CCL games last spring. So a decision was made to tap Dickerson at some point in summer 2024 or later and I'm not sure what it stemmed from. Has nothing to do with his abilities on the merits.

Come to think of it, I’m looking at the last Asian Cup roster from early 2024, and you have to dig really deep to find six candidates IMO, plus a reserve, especially if they want to move on from the old guard in any way: - Mohamed (UAE) will be 47 and wasn't at the recent seminar, so I think we can assume he’s out. - Faghani (IRN/AUS) will be 48 but I guess he’s the first choice? - Ma Ning (CHN) will be turning 47 but I guess he’s there? - Al-Kaf (OMA) is probably a safe bet (he’ll be a nice and young 44) - Tantashev (UZB, will be 43) has a decent chance I guess but hasn’t been very inspiring whenever I’ve watched him semi-recently. - Maybe Adham Makhadmeh (JOR)? And then I guess you take two names from Japan, South Korea, and/or Australia (I think Shaun Evans is decent but it will depend if FIFA wants to take two “Australian” referees). I don’t know much about any of the KOR or JPN candidates but there’s probably one or two serviceable names in there, right? So lots of question marks, especially if any more of the 47+ crowd gets ruled out.There will definitely be a referee from Saudi Arabia and Qatar among the AFC squad. The leading Saudi official, Al-Hoaish, I don't think is very good. For Qatar, I think that Al-Jassim's time ought to be up and that they have a young referee who is quite promising, Salman Fallahi. Faghani should be a safe bet, despite his age. Ma or perhaps the Korean who did Iran-Syria at the last AC could be the East Asia representative. Tantashev, back in the last month from the injury he sustained at the Olympics, with Irmatov's influence has a good shout. A final field place could be fought over by Al-Kaf (Oman) and Al-Ali (Kuwait); I prefer the former. Eight names for South America also seems a big ask, but on reflection six should be clear: Brazil two, Argentina two, Valenzuela and Matonte. They are trying to establish Piero Maza from Chile as a big name, and while I doubt that he has the requisite quality, the Chilean will probably qualify - leaving one gap. Perhaps this is why Andres Rojas (col) has been appointed to control the Argentina-Brazil qualifier on the 25th March. Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh will equal the achievements of his spouse and become a World Cup main referee, quite evidently. It will be interesting to see if CAF officials can replicate the outstanding job they did at the last AFCON on the world stage. In my opinion, after the two leading lights of Ghorbal and Beida, a lot of referees are at a similar level so it will be very interesting to see who is selected. Finally, I agree entirely with what @MassachusettsRef wrote about the Concacaf race on the previous post.

Candidates by confederation: CONCACAF: Ivan Barton (slv), Juan Gabriel Calderon (crc), Joseph Dickerson (usa), Ismail Elfath (usa), Mario Escobar (gua), Drew Fisher (can), Katia Garcia (mex), Keylor Herrera (crc), Walter Lopez (gua), Said Martinez (hon), Oshane Nation (jam), Tori Penso (usa), Cesar Ramos (mex), Kwinsi Williams (tri). Marco Ortiz (mex) was also present but his consideration must now be over. CONMEBOL: Ramon Abatti (bra), Augusto Aragon (ecu), Juan Benitez (par), Raphael Claus (bra), Yael Falcon (arg), Cristian Garay (chi), Dario Herrera (arg), Alexis Herrera (ven), Andres Matonte (uru), Piero Maza (chi), Ivo Mendez (bol), Kevin Ortega (per), John Ospina (col), Roberto Perez (per), Andres Rojas (col), Wilton Sampaio (bra), Gustavo Tejera (uru), Facundo Tello (arg), Jesus Valenzuela (ven). AFC: Ahmed Al-Kaf (oma), Ahmad Al-Ali (kuw), Omar Al-Ali (uae), Mohammed Al-Hoish (ksa), Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (qat), Adel Al-Naqbi (uae), Khalid Al-Turais (ksa), Yusuke Araki (jpn), Alireza Faghani (irn), Salman Fallahi (qat), Kim Jong-hyeok (kor), Adham Makhadmah (jor), Nazmi Nasaruddin (mas), Ma Ning (chn), Ilgiz Tantashev (uzb). CAF: Omar Artan (som), Pierre Atcho (gab), Dahane Beida (mtn), Youcef Gamouh (alg), Mustapha Ghorbal (alg), Mahmood Ismail (sud), Jalal Jayed (mar), Mohamed Maarouf (egy), Alhadji Mahamat (cha), Tanguy Mebiame (gab), Ibrahim Mutaz (lby), Jean-Jacques Ndala (drc), Amin Omar (egy), Issa Sy (sen), Abongile Tom (rsa). OFC: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (nzl), Ben Aukwai (sol). And finally the UEFA list can be found on the link posted by @RedStar91.I'm biased as an American but I'm genuinely curious how Barton continues to be kept at such high levels. He has howler after howler in CONCACAF competitions. His temperature management is... lacking.