A week after the World Cup final in the USA, Slavko Vinčić officially ended his historic refereeing career at the top of the world. As the first Slovenian referee, the Maribor native officiated the final of the 2026 World Cup between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, confirming his status as one of the greatest referees in history. As the crowning glory of his farewell season, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) declared him the best referee of the World Cup, and in Italy he received the prestigious Giulio Campanati Award.
Slavko Vinčić, born on 25 November 1979, comes from Maribor and has been on the list of international referees since 2010. At the 2012 European Championship, he worked as additional AR and, along with the Slovenian team, reached the quarter-final between Greece and Germany. In 2013, he refereed at the final tournament of the U-17 Euro in Slovakia and reached the semi-finals, and in 2015, he refereed in the knock-out stages of European competitions for the first time, with the Europa League round of 16 match Guingamp - Dynamo Kyiv. At Euro 2016, he served again as additional AR for the Slovenian team led by Damir Skomina, and in the final round of the Champions League group stage in 2016, he made his debut in the elite club competition with the match Manchester City - Celtic. Since then, he has been regularly refereeing Champions League matches, and at the end of 2019, he was included in the elite group of European referees. He refereed at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India, 2019 UEFA U-21 Euro in Poland, 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland, Euro 2020 (including the quarter-final Belgium - Italy), 2022 Europa League final Eintracht Frankfurt - Glasgow Rangers, 2022 World Cup in Qatar, 2023 Nations League semi-final Spain - Italy, 2024 Champions League final Borussia Dortmund - Real Madrid, Euro 2024 (including the semi-final Spain - France), 2025 Nations League semi-final Germany - Portugal, 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and finally the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final between Spain and Argentina.
Source: NZS
