2026 World Cup Referees: A Complete List by Confederation

Asher Hyre Updated: 3 hours ago

Following a rigorous three-year selection process, the official list of referees for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been announced. The officiating team, known as "Team One," will be the largest in the tournament's history, comprising of 52 referees, 88 assistant referees, and 30 VAR officials from 50 member federations across all six confederations.

This expansion of the officiating crew is a direct response to the tournament's new, larger format. For the first time, the World Cup will feature 48 national teams competing in 104 matches across the three host nations: Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

UEFA (Europe) - 15 Referees

Europe provides the largest contingent of referees for the tournament. Notable names include Poland's Szymon Marciniak, who officiated the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France, and France's François Letexier, who was in charge of the Euro 2024 final between Spain and England.

Referee	Country
Michael Oliver	England
Anthony Taylor	England
Francois Letexier	France
Clement Turpin	France
Maurizio Mariani	Italy
Danny Makkelie	Netherlands
Espen Eskas	Norway
Szymon Marcinak	Poland
Joao Pinheiro	Portugal
Istvan Kovacs	Romania
Slavko Vincic	Slovenia
Alejandro Hernandez	Spain
Glynn Nyberg	Sweden
Sandro Scharer	Switzerland

CONMEBOL (South America) - 12 referees

Argentina and Brazil lead the South American selections, each contributing three center referees to the tournament.

Referee	Country
Yael Falcón Pérez	Argentina
Dario Herrera	Argentina
Facundo Tello	Argentina
Ramón Abatti	Brazil
Raphael Claus	Brazil
Wilton Sampaio	Brazil
Cristian Garay	Chile
Andrés Rojas	Colombia
Juan Gabriel Benítez	Paraguay
Kevin Ortega	Peru
Gustavo Tejera	Uruguay
Jesús Valenzuela	Venezuela

CONCACAF (North and Central America) - 9 referees

Host nation Mexico will be represented by two center referees: Katia Itzel García and César Ramos, with the latter set to officiate in his third consecutive World Cup.

Referee	Country
Drew Fischer	Canada
Juan Calderón	Costa Rica
Iván Barton	El Salvador
Héctor Said Martínez	Honduras
Oshane Nation	Jamaica
Katia García	Mexico
César Ramos	Mexico
Ismail Elfath	USA
Tori Penso	USA

AFC (Asia) - 8 referees

Asia is the fourth-largest confederation by representation, with a group that blends World Cup experience with new talent. A key figure is Alireza Faghani, who was born in Iran but now represents Australia.

Referees	Country
Alireza Faghani	Australia
Ma Ning	China
Adham Makhadmeh	Jordan
Yusuke Araki	Japan
Abdulrahman Al Jassim	Qatar
Khalid Al Turais	Saudi Arabia
Omar Al Ali	United Arab Emirates
Ilgiz Tantashev	Uzbekistan

CAF (Africa) - 7 referees

Africa will send seven referees to the 2026 World Cup, featuring a mix of veterans and newcomers. Algeria's Mustapha Ghorbal is the only one with prior World Cup experience, having officiated at Qatar 2022.

Referees	Country
Mustapha Ghorbal	Algeria
Amin Mohamed	Egypt
Pierre Atcho	Gabon
Jalal Jayed	Morocco
Dahane Beida	Mauritania
Omar Abdulkadir Artan	Somalia
Abongile Tom	South Africa

OFC (Oceania) - 1 referee

Oceania will have a single representative: New Zealand's Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh. An international referee since 2018, his experience includes the 2023 Club World Cup and the men's football tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Historical female presence

A total of six female referees have been selected for the tournament, continuing the trend established at Qatar 2022. Among them are Katia García, the first woman in 20 years to referee a top-division match in Mexico, and American Tori Penso.

Technology to Aid Officiating

The 2026 tournament will feature a suite of advanced technologies to support the referees. This includes automatic goal detection, an enhanced version of semi-automated offside technology, and connected ball technology. Additionally, referees will wear body cameras with artificial image stabilization, offering fans a first-person perspective from the pitch.