FIFA announces 2026 World Cup match officials: Seven from Premier League, 11 from MLS appointed

FIFA announces 2026 World Cup match officials: Seven from Premier League, 11 from MLS appointed

FIFA has announced the 170 match officials appointed for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Seven Premier League officials will be at the tournament, including referees Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor, plus Jarred Gillet in a video assistant referee (VAR) role.

Eleven Major League Soccer officials have also been appointed, with Ismail Elfath and Tori Penso of the U.S., plus Drew Fischer of Canada, the league’s three refereeing representatives. Joe Dickerson and Armando Villarreal will both be on VAR duty.

Penso, 39, took charge of the 2023 women’s World Cup final and is one of six women appointed to officiate at the 2026 tournament. This includes compatriots Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt, who are both assistant referees, and the trio make up the only all-woman on-field officiating team at the World Cup. The 2022 World Cup marked the first time a woman had refereed a fixture at the men’s tournament, with Stephanie Frappart making history as part of an all-woman officiating team in the group stage fixture between Costa Rica and Germany.

Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, who took charge of the 2022 World Cup final, has also been appointed for the 2026 tournament, alongside his assistant from the showpiece in Qatar, Tomasz Listkiewicz. Marciniak’s performance in the 2022 final received widespread praise.

Francois Letexier, the 2024 European Championship final referee, Istvan Kovacs, who took charge of the 2025 Champions League final, and Raphael Claus, referee for the 2024 Copa America final, are also among those appointed. 

A total of 52 referees, 88 assistants and 30 video match officials have been selected to officiate at this summer’s World Cup. They represent 50 member associations and FIFA said selection was based on “quality and consistency of performances at (the) highest level”, with the selection process taking place over three years.

The referees and assistant referees will be based in Miami during the tournament, while the video match officials will be in Dallas.

Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s chief refereeing officer, said: “The selected match officials are the very best in the world. They were part of a wider pool of officials that was identified and monitored over the past three years.

“They have attended seminars and officiated at FIFA tournaments. In addition, their performances in domestic and international matches were regularly assessed. The selected officials have received, and will continue to receive, comprehensive support from our fitness coaches and medical staff, including physiotherapists and a mental specialist.”

FIFA confirmed referee body cameras will also be in use during the tournament, having been utilised at the Club World Cup last summer and subsequently introduced in a number of top-flight leagues, including the Premier League.

Which MLS match officials will be at the 2026 World Cup?

Standout MLS officials Ismail Elfath and Drew Fischer will be among 11 referees from the North American league represented at the World Cup.

Elfath worked two group games and a round-of-16 match at Qatar 2022, while serving as the fourth official for the final between Argentina and France. Fischer, meanwhile, worked as VAR in Qatar, including for a semifinal, and returns to the World Cup stage in a lead referee capacity. Both are two-time winners of MLS Referee of the Year honors, with Fischer winning in each of the last two seasons.

Tori Penso, who officiated the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, is another MLS official among the World Cup referees. She is one of only two women selected to referee at the tournament alongside Liga MX official Katia Garcia of Mexico.

They’ll be joined by American assistant referees Kyle Atkins, Kathryn Nesbitt, Brooke Mayo and Corey Parker and Canadians Lyes Arfa and Micheal Barwegen and American VARs Armando Villarreal and Joe Dickerson as part of the MLS contingent overseeing this summer’s competition.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

US Men's national team, MLS, Women's Soccer, FIFA Men's World Cup, FIFA Women's World Cup

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