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Violent attack on El Salvador
Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton has come under fire after officiating the France-Spain 2026 World Cup semi-final after receiving a low rating from Spanish refereeing network Archivo Far.
Spain qualified for the finals of the 2026 World Cup after a deserved victory over their French counterpart in the semi-final match with two unanswered goals. La Roja imposed their control throughout the game, with goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Boro securing a place in the final and a date with the winner of the Argentina-England World Cup tie.
The network has been awarded Through its official website Barton only 3.5 out of 10, given that he was unable to rise to the level of a game of this magnitude, receiving a “failing grade” after his performance in the match.
The network noted that the referee’s performance was not surprising given his poor performances during the tournament, stressing that the real surprise was the decision by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) to entrust him with officiating the World Cup semi-final match.
He noted that Barton had a “very poor” first half, explaining that the only decision that affected him in that period was Lucas Digne’s clear penalty against Lamin Yamal.
He added that the referee then made several errors in judgement, noting that his assistant had to correct one of his decisions during the game, which he described as reflecting his inconsistency in managing the game.
Archivó Far concluded their assessment by confirming that “FIFA’s attempt failed”, deeming it a poor decision to assign Barton to a game of such magnitude, forcing the Salvadoran referee to join the tournament’s most criticized referees after the semi-finals.
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