The 2026 FIFA World Cup gets underway later today, when host nation Mexico takes on South Africa in the opening match.
Here is a full list of the referees, assistant referees, and video referees at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Who are the head referees at the 2026 World Cup?
52 referees were selected for the 2026 World Cup. The majority of them, 15 in all, are from UEFA countries. That includes Szymon Marciniak from Poland, who was the referee for the 2022 World Cup Final.
This list includes 12 referees from CONMEBOL and nine from CONCACAF. New Zealand’s Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh is the lone OAF referee.
This list also includes Omar Abdulkadir Artan from Somalia, who was denied entry into the United States. While Canadian politicians have offered that he could referee matches in Canada, at the time of publication it is unclear if that will be arranged.
Who are the assistant referees at the 2026 World Cup?
All told, 88 referees were selected as assistant referees for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. All six confederations are represented.
12 of the assistant referees come from the AFC, while 11 come from the CAF. CONCACAF has 15 assistant referees at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including four from the United States (Corey Parker, Kyle Atkins, Kathryn Nesbitt, and Brooke Mayo), two from Canada, and three from Mexico.
Once again UEFA has the most assistant referees, with 29, while Isaac Trevis is the lone representative from the OFC.
Who are the VAR officials for the 2026 World Cup?
As such, FIFA has assigned 30 video match officials for this year’s World Cup. Five confederations are represented here, as OAF does not have a video match official for the 2026 World Cup.
