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Arab refereeing shines at the World Cup
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Referee Committee has announced the refereeing teams tasked with officiating a number of matches in the first round of the 2026 World Cup group stage hosted by the United States of America, Canada and Mexico.
Football fans around the world are waiting for the historic start of the 2026 World Cup, which will be held for the first time with the participation of 48 teams from June 11 to July 19.
The tournament will be hosted by the United States of America, Canada and Mexico, and the Egyptian team will participate in the seventh group together with the teams of Belgium, New Zealand and Iran.
The FIFA Referees Committee assigned Egyptian referee Amin Omar to officiate the South Korea-Czech Republic match in the first group competition, which is a new achievement for Egyptian refereeing on the world stage.
The match is scheduled for Friday, June 12 at dawn, within the framework of the first round of the group stage, as the first group includes the teams of Mexico, South Africa, South Korea and the Czech Republic.
Amin Omar is assisted in officiating the match by Mahmoud Abu Al-Rijal as first assistant and Ahmed Hossam Taha as second assistant, while Mahmoud Ashour is responsible for the video referee (VAR).
The refereeing team also includes a number of referees of different nationalities, with the fourth official being Costa Rican Juan Calderon and the reserve referee being his compatriot Juan Carlos Mora, while the assistant video referee (AVAR) is headed by American Joe Dickerson and the video assistant referee is Italian Marco Di Bello (SVAR).
Those responsible for the meeting @FIFAWorldCup Matches 1, 2, 3 and 4 have been scheduled. 🤝
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) June 8, 2026
In a related context, the FIFA Referees Committee announced the appointment of Argentine referee Facundo Tello to officiate the Canada-Bosnia and Herzegovina match in the first round of the group stage.
The refereeing team of the match includes Juan Pablo Pilati, the first assistant and Gabriel Chadi, the second assistant, while Khaled Al-Taris of Saudi Arabia will take the role of the fourth official, and his compatriot Muhammad Al-Bakri will help him as the reserve referee.
Hernan Mastrangelo will also be in charge of video technology, assisted by Antonio Garcia, and Tatiana Guzman will be the assistant video technology referee.
The FIFA Referees Committee also announced that the USA-Paraguay match will be officiated by Dutch referee Dani Makele in the first round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage.
