FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026 – Group Stage (Matches 25-36)

11 September 2026
England – Brazil
Referee: Alyssa Pennington USA
Assistant Referee 1: Meghan Mullen USA
Assistant Referee 2: Jassett Kerr-Wilson JAM
Fourth Official: Lizzet Garcia MEX
VAR: Sivakorn Pu-Udom THA
AVAR: Jelena Jovanovic-Dzajic SRB

Tanzania – Canada
Referee: Kim Yu-Jeong KOR
Assistant Referee 1: Heba Saadieh PLE
Assistant Referee 2: Allys Clipsham NZL
Fourth Official: Marta Huerta De Aza ESP
VAR: Catarina Ferreira POR
AVAR: Eszter Urban HUN

Argentina – Mexico
Referee: Shamirah Nabadda UGA
Assistant Referee 1: Fanta Kone MLI
Assistant Referee 2: Fides Bangurambona BDI
Fourth Official: Alina Pesu ROU
VAR: Angelos Evangelou GRE
AVAR: Maria Rivet MRI

Benin – Poland
Referee: Milagros Arruela PER
Assistant Referee 1: Irina Pozdejeva LTU
Assistant Referee 2: Mariana Aquino PER
Fourth Official: Asaka Koizumi JPN
VAR: Stefani Escobar VEN
AVAR: Maria Daza COL

12 September 2026
Italy – Japan
Referee: Myriam Marcotte CAN
Assistant Referee 1: Gabrielle Lemieux CAN
Assistant Referee 2: Mijensa Rensch SUR
Fourth Official: Charly Straub BRA
VAR: Ismael Cornejo SLV
AVAR: Susana Corella ECU

New Zealand – USA
Referee: Anahi Fernandez URU
Assistant Referee 1: Daiana Fernandez URU
Assistant Referee 2: Belén Clavijo URU
Fourth Official: Marta Huerta De Aza ESP
VAR: Rodrigo Carvajal CHI
AVAR: Salima Mukansanga RWA

Ghana – France
Referee: Dione Rissios CHI
Assistant Referee 1: Leslie Vasquez CHI
Assistant Referee 2: Yomara Salazar CHI
Fourth Official: Casey Reibelt AUS
VAR: Maria Daza COL
AVAR: Angelos Evangelou GRE

Korea – Ecuador
Referee: Marianela Araya CRC
Assistant Referee 1: Shirley Perello HON
Assistant Referee 2: Lourdes Noriega HON
Fourth Official: Twannyanyukwa Antsino NAM
VAR: Diana Perez MEX
AVAR: Letticia Viana SWZ

Milton Nielsen: “Hey, you are the man who sent off Beckham!”

In an extract from a new book, the Danish former referee recalls sending off the England midfielder for his infamous kick on Diego Simeone. At half-time on 30 June 1998, Kim Milton Nielsen stepped into the changing room at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Étienne. The air reeked of wet towels. He hugged his assistants. They’d just taken charge of the best half of football they’d ever officiated. Argentina v England. World Cup round of 16. Michael Owen had terrorised Argentina with blistering runs and his breakout goal. A clever free kick had outsmarted the English defence. Nielsen had awarded two penalties. He couldn’t wait for the second half, but he didn’t know what was coming.

At 37, Nielsen was refereeing his first major international tournament. He’d been trusted with the showcase match. Tensions between Argentina and England had simmered since the 1982 Falklands war and deepened through controversial World Cup ​clashes – Geoff Hurst’s goal in 1966; Diego Maradona’s handball 20 years later. A loss for either side would be colossal. And then it happened. Diego Simeone clattered into David Beckham. Nielsen blew his whistle to book Simeone. Simeone leaned on Beckham and tugged his hair. Beckham flicked his boot; Simeone fell. Nielsen blew again. Red card for Beckham. But it wasn’t going to be that easy. Sending off Beckham, a global superstar, at a World Cup with a full half still to play. A voice in Nielsen’s head whispered: was it really violent? Didn’t Simeone provoke it? Then he recognised the voice. He’d heard it before. It had nearly beaten him. He knew what to do. Nielsen’s mind flicked back to 1991, when he was in his early 30s, refereeing Barcelona at the Camp Nou. A Sparta Prague player broke through on goal and was cynically fouled by Guillermo Amor. Before 82,000 Barça fans, he needed to send off one of their heroes. His instincts urged leniency - a free kick and a yellow. “Barcelona at home against a team from eastern Europe… it would be very easy to close your eyes and not do anything,” Nielsen told me. But he dug deep. Red card. Sparta Prague scored from the free kick. Nielsen’s heart sank. “I thought: ‘Oh my God, I am going to die at the Nou Camp.’” But the press admired the decision. It was a vital lesson. Whether it’s a big team or a small team, a superstar or a debutant, the same rules apply. Now, standing there, in front of Beckham, Nielsen reminded himself of that lesson. That night, after England’s loss on penalties, Nielsen wondered if there was more he could have done. Then he realised something important. “If I changed my mind because I was afraid of the headlines, I would have destroyed myself as a referee,” he said. The cost of fairness is high. Sometimes referees must pay.

Being called up for a World Cup was a highlight of Nielsen’s career, one that started in Copenhagen in 1976. He retired in 2006 but remains one of football’s iconic officials. In February 2005, he became the first referee to reach 50 appearances in the Champions League. But he’ll always be remembered as the man who sent off David Beckham. “I am surprised, and I have been surprised since, because even small boys who were not born in 1998, they come up to me and they say, ‘Hey, you are the man who sent off David Beckham,’” Nielsen told me. And he is quietly proud of it.

Source: The Guardian

UEFA Champions League 2026/2027 – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

8 September 2026

Club Brugge – Aston Villa
Referee: Sandro Schärer SUI (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Stéphane De Almeida SUI
Assistant Referee 2: Jonas Erni SUI
Fourth Official: Anojen Kanagasingam SUI
VAR: Fedayi San SUI
AVAR: Bastian Dankert GER
Referee Observer: Kyros Vassaras GRE

AEK Athens – LASK Linz
Referee: Luis Godinho POR
Assistant Referee 1: Pedro Martins POR
Assistant Referee 2: Gonçalo Freire POR
Fourth Official: André Narciso POR
VAR: Tiago Martins POR
AVAR: Fábio Melo POR
Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas SCO

Real Madrid – Inter Milano
Referee: Michael Oliver ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt ENG
Assistant Referee 2: James Mainwaring ENG
Fourth Official: Samuel Barrott ENG
VAR: Andrew Dallas SCO
AVAR: Michael Salisbury ENG
Referee Observer: Elmir Pilav BIH

Borussia Dortmund – Villarreal CF
Referee: Simone Sozza ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Davide Imperiale ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Giovanni Baccini ITA
Fourth Official: Andrea Colombo ITA
VAR: Daniele Chiffi ITA
AVAR: Marco Di Bello ITA
Referee Observer: Stavros Tritsonis GRE

FC Porto – Manchester City
Referee: Szymon Marciniak POL
Assistant Referee 1: Tomasz Listkiewicz POL
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Kupsik POL
Fourth Official: Pawel Raczkowski POL
VAR: Pol van Boekel NED
AVAR: Dennis Higler NED
Referee Observer: Herbert Fandel GER

LOSC Lille – Real Betis
Referee: Georgi Kabakov BUL
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Margaritov BUL
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Venev BUL
Fourth Official: Radoslav Gidzhenov BUL
VAR: Bram Van Driessche BEL
AVAR: Ivan Bebek CRO
Referee Observer: Marinus Koopman NED

9 September 2026
FC Barcelona – Feyenoord Rotterdam
Referee: Sven Jablonski GER
Assistant Referee 1: Eduard Beitinger GER
Assistant Referee 2: Eric Müller GER
Fourth Official: Tobias Reichel GER
VAR: Bastian Dankert GER
AVAR: Andrew Dallas SCO
Referee Observer: Gianluca Rocchi ITA

VfB Stuttgart – Viking FK
Referee: Nenad Minaković SRB
Assistant Referee 1: Nikola Borović SRB
Assistant Referee 2: Boško Božović SRB
Fourth Official: Danilo Nikolić SRB
VAR: Ivan Bebek CRO
AVAR: Momčilo Marković SRB
Referee Observer: Alberto Undiano Mallenco ESP

Paris St. Germain – Slovan Bratislava
Referee: Mykola Balakin UKR
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksandr Berkut UKR
Assistant Referee 2: Viktor Matyash UKR
Fourth Official: Dmytro Panchyshyn UKR
VAR: Michael Salisbury ENG
AVAR: Matej Jug SVN
Referee Observer: Lutz-Michael Fröhlich GER

Liverpool FC – Atletico de Madrid
Referee: Davide Massa ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Filippo Meli ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Alessio Berti ITA
Fourth Official: Matteo Marcenaro ITA
VAR: Marco Di Bello ITA
AVAR: Daniele Chiffi ITA
Referee Observer: Stefan Messner AUT

Sporting CP – Galatasaray
Referee: Espen Eskas NOR
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Engan NOR
Assistant Referee 2: Alf Rossland NOR
Fourth Official: Sigurd Kringstad NOR
VAR: Christian Dingert GER
AVAR: Bram Van Driessche BEL
Referee Observer: Dejan Filipović SRB

SSC Napoli – Arsenal FC
Referee: Glenn Nyberg SWE
Assistant Referee 1: Mahbod Beigi SWE
Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Söderkvist SWE
Fourth Official: Adam Ladebäck SWE
VAR: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
AVAR: Jérôme Brisard FRA 

Referee Observer: Nuno Castro POR

10 September 2026
PSV Eindhoven – Shakhtar Donetsk
Referee: Halil Meler TUR
Assistant Referee 1: Ibrahim Uyarcan TUR
Assistant Referee 2: Abdullah Özkara TUR
Fourth Official: Cihan Aydin TUR
VAR: Christian Dingert GER
AVAR: Fedayi San SUI
Referee Observer: Lucílio Batista POR

Fenerbahce – AS Roma
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Barbero Sevilla ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Guadalupe Porras Ayuso ESP
Fourth Official: Juan Martínez Munuera ESP
VAR: César Soto Grado ESP
AVAR: Valentín Pizarro Gómez ESP
Referee Observer: Jon Skjervold NOR

Bayern Munchen – Bodo Glimt
Referee: Rade Obrenovič SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Jure Praprotnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Grega Kordež SVN
Fourth Official: David Šmajc SVN
VAR: Matej Jug SVN
AVAR: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
Referee Observer: René Temmink NED

Manchester United – Sabah FK
Referee: Willy Delajod FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Erwan Finjean FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Valentin Evrard FRA
Fourth Official: Mathieu Vernice FRA
VAR: Jérôme Brisard FRA
AVAR: Momčilo Marković SRB
Referee Observer: Stefan Johannesson SWE

Slavia Praha – RC Lens
Referee: Vassilis Fotias GRE
Assistant Referee 1: Andreas Meintanas GRE
Assistant Referee 2: Michail Papadakis GRE
Fourth Official: Alexandros Tsakalidis GRE
VAR: Tomasz Kwiatkowski POL
AVAR: Pawel Malec POL
Referee Observer: Carlos Velasco Carballo ESP

AS Como – RB Leipzig 

Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük NED
Assistant Referee 1: Patrick Inia NED
Assistant Referee 2: Rogier Honig NED
Fourth Official: Jeroen Manschot NED
VAR: Dennis Higler NED
AVAR: Pol van Boekel NED
Referee Observer: Darko Čeferin SVN

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026 – Group Stage (Matches 13-24)

8 September 2026

Brazil – Canada
Referee: Maria Ferrieri Caputi ITA (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Paulina Baranowska POL
Assistant Referee 2: Irina Pozdejeva LTU
Fourth Official: Silvia Gasperotti ITA
VAR: Catarina Campos POR
AVAR: Angelos Evangelou GRE

Benin – Argentina
Referee: Alyssa Pennington USA
Assistant Referee 1: Meghan Mullen USA
Assistant Referee 2: Jassett Kerr-Wilson JAM
Fourth Official: Myriam Marcotte CAN
VAR: Jelena Jovanović-Džajić SRB
AVAR: Eszter Urbán HUN

Poland – Mexico
Referee: Anahí Fernández URU
Assistant Referee 1: Daiana Fernández URU
Assistant Referee 2: Belén Clavijo URU
Fourth Official: Charly Straub BRA
VAR: Rodrigo Carvajal CHI
AVAR: Stefani Escobar VEN

England – Tanzania
Referee: Dione Rissios CHI
Assistant Referee 1: Leslie Vasquez CHI
Assistant Referee 2: Yomara Salazar CHI
Fourth Official: Casey Reibelt AUS
VAR: Susana Corella ECU
AVAR: Sivakorn Pu-Udom THA

9 September 2026
Ghana – Korea
Referee: Alina Peșu ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Emily Carney ENG
Assistant Referee 2: Heini Hyvönen FIN
Fourth Official: Myriam Marcotte CAN
VAR: Eszter Urbán HUN
AVAR: Catarina Campos POR

France – Ecuador
Referee: Asaka Koizumi JPN
Assistant Referee 1: Ha Thi Phuong VIE
Assistant Referee 2: Amal Badhafari UAE
Fourth Official: Twannyanyukwa Antsino NAM
VAR: Sivakorn Pu-Udom THA
AVAR: Salima Mukansanga RWA

Italy – New Zealand
Referee: Lizzet Garcia MEX
Assistant Referee 1: Aranza Quero MEX
Assistant Referee 2: Fernanda Juarez MEX
Fourth Official: Marianela Araya CRC
VAR: Diana Pérez MEX
AVAR: Ismael Cornejo SLV

Japan – USA
Referee: Marta Huerta De Aza ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Iragartze Fernández ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Andreia Sousa POR
Fourth Official: Milagros Arruela PER
VAR: Angelos Evangelou GRE 

AVAR: Letticia Viana SWZ

10 September 2026
Korea DPR – Costa Rica
Referee: Silvia Gasperotti ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Giulia Tempestilli ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Svitlana Grushko UKR
Fourth Official: Dione Rissios CHI
VAR: Maria Rivet MRI
AVAR: Stefani Escobar VEN

Colombia – Portugal
Referee: Casey Reibelt AUS
Assistant Referee 1: Emma Kocbek AUS
Assistant Referee 2: Madelaine Allum AUS
Fourth Official: Kim Yu-Jeong KOR
VAR: Letticia Viana SWZ
AVAR: Jelena Jovanović-Džajić SRB

Spain – New Caledonia
Referee: Twannyanyukwa Antsino NAM
Assistant Referee 1: Diana Chikotesha ZAM
Assistant Referee 2: Carine Atezambong CMR
Fourth Official: Shamirah Nabadda UGA
VAR: Salima Mukansanga RWA
AVAR: Rodrigo Carvajal CHI

China – Nigeria
Referee: Charly Straub BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Fernanda Antunes BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Anne Sá BRA
Fourth Official: Maria Ferrieri Caputi ITA
VAR: Maria Daza COL 

AVAR: Susana Corella ECU

Faghani: “The noise was unbelievable at Azteca”

It was 6pm on 5 July in Mexico City, and Alireza Faghani, a 48-year-old Australian-Iranian, was asleep in the locker room, snoring. His assistants had turned the music down. Had it not been for the muffled roar of nearly 90,000 fans through the concrete walls of the Estadio Azteca, he could have slept until the following morning. Faghani was the referee for Mexico v England in the last 16 at the 2026 World Cup. Mexico hadn’t lost a competitive game at the Azteca since 2013, at least in part because they’re used to the conditions. Situated 2,240 metres above sea level, the air contains less oxygen. Opponents struggle to breathe, let alone win. This was Faghani’s third match of his fourth World Cup. A contender for the final, he needed a strong performance. Outside, pouring rain fell from the sky. Thunder cracked overhead. The storm had delayed kick-off by an hour, but it could do little to quell the fans, who banged their drums and sang their chants. Eventually the noise jolted Faghani into action. He splashed water over his face and reviewed his notes again. As a referee in Australia’s A-League, he knew few of the players well, so he’d been studying their triggers, their temperaments and their tendencies in different match scenarios. “You know the key players, you understand their characteristics and how they normally behave in certain situations,” he adds.

The uncertainty around the kick-off time had disrupted his preparation for the match. Days earlier, amid warnings of extreme weather, FIFA officials had revealed plans to bring kick-off forward by six hours, only to shelve them after Keir Starmer, then the British prime minister, raised concerns that it would favour the hosts by giving England less time to adapt to the altitude. During those hours of uncertainty, Faghani needed to adjust his pre-match physical and nutritional schedule accordingly. It was unsettling. “I don’t really have any superstitions, but I do like routine,” he says. “That routine gives me a sense of calm and helps me enter the field with a clear mind.” But he tried not to spend too much energy on something he couldn’t control. “At this level, part of the job is staying calm and keeping your preparation as normal as possible, even when everything around you is changing.” As kick-off approached, Faghani also resisted obsessing over his notes. He didn’t want to introduce bias into his decision-making. If you go into a match expecting a player to dive in a one-on-one situation, for instance, you might see a dive when there was genuine contact. Or you might see a player kick out when it was just normal movement. “That can be dangerous because you can start the match with a preconceived idea,” he adds. So, he visualised the opening moments. “I try to switch off from everything outside the dressing room and focus only on the match,” he says. Mexico had a tendency for rampant starts. England were hard in the tackle. “We expected a match with a lot of intensity, particularly in transition and in individual duels. The important thing was to be mentally prepared for the speed of the game.”

England kicked off to a chorus of boos, and those boos greeted their every touch. “The noise was unbelievable,” Faghani recalls. The same sound that had woken him up was now a distraction, and a threat to his impartiality on borderline calls – so he tried to block it out. “You are always aware of the atmosphere, especially with a home crowd like Mexico at the Azteca. Naturally, they react strongly to decisions involving their team, and you can feel that energy.” In the opening stages, he wanted to let the match unfold without imposing himself on it. To assess the intensity, then decide how strongly he would need to intervene. “Every match develops its own personality, and one of the most important skills is recognising that personality as quickly as possible and adapting your refereeing to it.” In this cauldron, however, Faghani was afforded no such luxury. With just seconds gone, Declan Rice stretched for a loose ball and caught an opponent in the head with his boot. With nearly a full match still to play, Faghani wanted to keep his yellow card in his pocket. Once he books a player, he loses that option to manage them later. Another yellow means a red, which fundamentally alters the balance of a match, damaging the spectacle. But he felt he had no choice. He needed to communicate strongly to the players that dangerous challenges like this were unacceptable, otherwise he feared they would spread. So, he flashed his yellow card into the air, igniting the Mexican fans. “It was a clear yellow card for me,” he says. “It also helped everyone understand the line from the beginning.” Thomas Tuchel, the England manager, berated the fourth official on the sideline. As both sides launched into tackles, the fans urging them on, Rice’s chances of seeing out the match seemed slim. “Very quickly I felt it was going to be an intense, emotional, and fast game,” Faghani says. “I knew I needed to stay calm, be strong when necessary, but also give the players space to play.” Finding this balance “comes from reading the players and the temperature of the game”, according to Faghani, but he struggled under the pressure. “You are constantly asking yourself whether an intervention will help the match or interrupt it unnecessarily.” As softer fouls were punished and harder challenges went unpunished, frustration simmered and spread. A Mexican defender threw his arms in the air after being penalised for tugging down Jude Bellingham. “It’s not a foul,” he yelled. “It’s not a foul!” Faghani sprinted over, stood face to face with the player, and blew his whistle – an overt, intentional demonstration of authority. “In that environment, I felt it was important to deal with dissent immediately,” he says. “I wanted to send a clear message that communication was welcome, but there was a limit. Sometimes strong body language is more effective than using cards.” Faghani repeated the tactic moments later when another Mexican screamed at him for delaying a quick throw-in. It seemed to have worked. The dissent dissipated, and in its place came flowing football from the Mexicans. It was two English attacks that led to the game’s first decisive moments, though, with two Jude Bellingham goals. Mexico responded with a goal of their own. 2-1 to England. Faghani clenched his fists, knowing the pressure was only rising from here. But first he allowed himself a brief moment to drink in the skills on show. “You definitely appreciate the quality, but only for a second. As a referee, your mind immediately goes to the next responsibility – restart, player reactions, positioning, and staying focused.”

England held on until half-time. In the locker room, Faghani was mildly satisfied with his performance. “Overall, I felt we found a good balance,” he says, speaking about the line of intervention. “My mindset was simply to maintain the same concentration and consistency in the second half.” Not even Faghani, however, could have anticipated what was to come. In the 52nd minute, Jesús Gallardo, Mexico’s left-back, sprinted down the left wing. Jarell Quansah, England’s right-back, sprinted towards him. Between them, the ball rolled slowly over the turf. They were converging on it at full speed. If Gallardo got there first, he would be through on goal, with Raúl Jiménez waiting in the box. From the centre of England’s half, Faghani watched Quansah slide in, taking the ball and Gallardo. Gallardo rolled on the floor in agony and the Mexican fans roared, but Faghani carried on. “In real time, it looked like I could allow play to continue,” he says. Mexican coaching staff shot off their seats, gesticulating furiously at Faghani to stop play. Others shoved England staff. At the next break in play, Mexican players swarmed the referee. He gestured for them to move away. Then his VAR, Nicolás Gallo, told him to pause the restart while he checked the incident. Faghani’s stomach dropped. He couldn’t help but replay Quansah’s challenge in his mind, wondering what he hadn’t seen. Then Gallo instructed him to use the pitch side monitor. Whistles rang around the stadium as Faghani jogged over. Mexican players yelled at him as he reviewed the incident, demanding a red card. But soon they became white noise, Faghani recalls. “Once you’re at the monitor, your focus becomes very narrow. You concentrate only on making the correct decision.” It took just three replays from the same angle for Faghani to change his mind. From behind Quansah, he hadn’t been able to see the defender’s boot make contact high on Gallardo’s shin. “I saw the challenge, but I didn’t have a clear view of the point of contact,” he says. “But now it was clear.” As Faghani thrust his red card into the air, the Mexican fans celebrated as if they’d scored a goal. On the sidelines, Tuchel adjusted his tactics. Faghani gulped down air. “You could feel the physical demand more, particularly after repeated high intensity runs,” he says. Precisely when he didn’t want one, the game demanded another. Anthony Gordon sprinted towards a flick-on from Harry Kane, closing in on the Mexican goal. As the Mexican goalkeeper rushed from his goal, Faghani sprinted towards the play, fighting to be close enough to see any contact between him and Gordon. Gordon touched the ball before the goalkeeper wiped out his legs. Faghani saw and heard the contact, almost in slow motion, then pointed confidently to the penalty mark. “That’s part of the physical preparation at this level,” he says. “You work hard to arrive in the best possible position, but once the incident happens, you have to become mentally calm very quickly and judge only what you see.” Now the England fans roared with emotion. Harry Kane converted, giving England a 3-1 lead. Walking slowly back to the centre circle, Faghani tried to fill up his lungs and compose himself. Thirty minutes remained, and he knew a Mexico onslaught was coming.

The onslaught soon produced a penalty. Hooking away the ball from the England box, Harry Kane kicked a Mexican leg. Despite appeals from the Mexican players, Faghani let play continue. “Initially, from my angle, I wasn’t convinced there was enough for a penalty,” he says. “I heard the appeals, of course, but players’ reactions can’t determine your decision. You have to trust what you see.” Moments later, Gallo told him to pause play to review the incident. Faghani’s stomach then dropped a second time. Seconds passed. Then some more. Once again, Faghani tried not to think about what he might have missed. Under extreme pressure, he wanted to be calm enough to review the incident accurately on the monitor. “Second-guessing yourself for a minute doesn’t help. You need to stay composed and ready for the next step.” At first, at the monitor, he couldn’t see what Gallo had seen. He certainly couldn’t see a clear and obvious error. He considered sticking with his on-field call, something he’d done earlier in the tournament. Then Gallo slowed down the footage and walked him through Kane’s contact with the Mexican player’s boot. Kane had caught the boot without kicking the ball. Slowly, the foul revealed itself. Then it was all Faghani could see. “The communication helped me understand exactly what VAR wanted me to look at,” he says. “Once we identified the relevant contact and I saw the best angle, the decision became much clearer.” Mexico scored. 3–2 to England. Twenty minutes remaining. Plenty of time for big calls. To get them right, Faghani needed to reset, fast. To let go of the disappointment of missing two crucial calls. “You have to move on immediately,” he says. “VAR is part of the refereeing team, and the objective is to get the final decision right. You cannot allow one decision, or even two, to affect the next one.” England hung on. No more goals. In the final minutes of normal time, the Mexican bench pointed at their watches, demanding that Faghani account for every second of stoppage time. When the board showed 11 minutes, Faghani sighed. His muscles were weary, his thoughts cloudy. However hard he breathed, he couldn’t fill up his lungs. By this point, the pressure was almost unfathomable. He knew that a single lapse could reshape history and end his tournament. Fortunately for him, that lapse never came. In the 102nd minute, he blew his whistle and ended the match. English players fell to their knees. Faghani wanted to join them, to close his eyes, to release the tension. Later, in the locker room, he listened to music and chugged down water, reflecting on a job well done. Down the hall, however, Tuchel took aim at him. “The referees are just not good enough; fourth officials are just not good enough. That’s the bottom line,” he said. He singled out the decision to award the Mexican penalty, questioning whether the intervention had met the threshold for a clear and obvious error. “VAR overturns [but] is this a clear and obvious error for the penalty? For sure not. They overturned a situation where [the referee] doesn’t even give a foul.” Faghani, however, refused to dwell on the criticism. Hours later, once the Azteca had fallen silent, he headed for a light dinner and then to bed, where he quickly fell into another deep slumber. This time, he slept peacefully.

Source: The Guardian

Finalissima U-20 (UEFA-CONMEBOL) 2026

19 September 2026

Real Madrid – Santiago Wanderers
Referee: Damian Sylwestrzak POL (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Pawel Sokolnicki POL
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Karasewicz POL
Fourth Official: Damian Kos POL
VAR: Tomasz Kwiatkowski POL
AVAR: Piotr Lasyk POL

UEFA Youth League 2026/2027 – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

8 September 2026

AEK Athens – LASK Linz
Referee: David Silva POR (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Nélson Pereira POR
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Campos POR
Fourth Official: Constantínos Kátikos GRE

FC Porto – Manchester City
Referee: Lukáš Dzivjak SVK
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Poláček SVK
Assistant Referee 2: Simeon Vass SVK
Fourth Official: Diogo Araújo POR

Club Brugge – Aston Villa
Referee: Mihály Káprály HUN
Assistant Referee 1: Theodoros Georgiou HUN
Assistant Referee 2: Bence Belicza HUN
Fourth Official: Jasper Vitse BEL

LOSC Lille – Real Betis
Referee: Alex Johnson MLT
Assistant Referee 1: Kurt Saliba MLT
Assistant Referee 2: David Castillo MLT
Fourth Official: Marc Bollengier FRA
Referee Observer: Rien Koopman NED

Real Madrid – Inter Milano
Referee: Giorgi Avazashvili GEO
Assistant Referee 1: Zviad Bliadze GEO
Assistant Referee 2: Gocha Taruashvili GEO
Fourth Official: Anas Bakali Bentaleb ESP
Referee Observer: Ferenc Székely HUN

Borussia Dortmund – Villarreal CF
Referee: Tural Qurbanov AZE
Assistant Referee 1: Camil Aliyev AZE
Assistant Referee 2: Asiman Azizli AZE
Fourth Official: Cengiz Kabalakli GER
Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn GER 

9 September 2026
FC Barcelona – Feyenoord Rotterdam
Referee: Kyriákos Athanasíou CYP
Assistant Referee 1: Geórgios Pooutídis CYP
Assistant Referee 2: Polýdoros Christodoúlou CYP
Fourth Official: David López Jiménez ESP

VfB Stuttgart – Viking FK
Referee: Jakob Semler AUT
Assistant Referee 1: Johannes Stögerer AUT
Assistant Referee 2: Mario Diesenberger AUT
Fourth Official: Felix Prigan GER

Napoli – Arsenal
Referee: Ante Čulina CRO
Assistant Referee 1: Dario Kolarević CRO
Assistant Referee 2: Anto Marić CRO
Fourth Official: Alberto Ruben Arena ITA
Referee Observer: Nuno Castro POR 

Paris St. Germain – Slovan Bratislava
Referee: Patryk Gryckiewicz POL
Assistant Referee 1: Bartosz Kaszyński POL
Assistant Referee 2: Dawid Blazejczyk POL
Fourth Official: Aurélien Petit FRA
Referee Observer: Lutz-Michael Fröhlich GER 

Sporting CP – Galatasaray
Referee: Bálint Kiss SVK
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Bednár SVK
Assistant Referee 2: Ákos Juhos SVK
Fourth Official: Flávio Duarte POR
Referee Observer: João Ferreira POR 

Liverpool FC – Atletico de Madrid
Referee: Fótios Polychrónis GRE
Assistant Referee 1: Lázaros Dimitriádis GRE
Assistant Referee 2: Ioánnis Minoúdis GRE
Fourth Official: James Robinson NIR
Referee Observer: Stefan Messner AUT 

10 September 2026
Fenerbahce – AS Roma
Referee: Karel Rouček CZE
Assistant Referee 1: Lukáš Machač CZE
Assistant Referee 2: Petr Kotalík CZE
Fourth Official: Emrullah Baydar TUR
Referee Observer: Muhittin Boşat TUR

PSV Eindhoven – Shakhtar Donetsk
Referee: Marius Hansen NOR
Assistant Referee 1: Erland Hareland NOR
Assistant Referee 2: Henrik Pettersen NOR
Fourth Official: Erwin Blank NED

Slavia Praha – Lens
Referee: Jacob Karlsen DEN
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Markus DEN
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Cortzen DEN
Fourth Official: Jan Beneš CZE
Referee Observer: Radek Příhoda CZE

Manchester United – Sabah
Referee: Simon Bourdeaud’hui BEL
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Geerolf BEL
Assistant Referee 2: Jonas Van Dyck BEL
Referee Observer: Stephen Tanner ENG 

AS Como – RB Leipzig
Referee: Florian Lata ALB
Assistant Referee 1: Feliks Kolleshi ALB
Assistant Referee 2: Aurel Topi ALB
Fourth Official: Kevin Bonacina ITA
Referee Observer: Clayton Pisani MLT 

Bayern Munchen – Bodo Glimt
Referee: Oguzhan Çakir TUR
Assistant Referee 1: Kerem Ilitangil TUR
Assistant Referee 2: Mehmet Kisal TUR
Fourth Official: Felix Wagner GER
Referee Observer: Thomas Einwaller AUT 

Australian professional referees will not take the field

The Professional Football Referees Association (PFRA) today confirms that its members have overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution establishing minimum requirements for the future of professional refereeing in Australia. Football Australia has proposed significant changes to the elite refereeing structure that would be detrimental to individual referees and represent a drastic step backwards for the professional refereeing program. Primarily, the proposal contemplates referees being partly contracted directly by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), an organisation controlled by the clubs competing in the competitions in which those referees officiate. Such an arrangement would place referees in an unacceptable position of potential conflict and raise serious concerns regarding the integrity and impartiality of the refereeing program.

The PFRA has consistently sought to resolve these matters through constructive discussions with Football Australia over multiple months. However, the structure contemplated by Football Australia is untenable, and there has been minimal progress towards resolving the impasse. All elite match officials are currently uncontracted, while match officials who have officiated trial matches involving A-League clubs have also not been paid outstanding match fees. Football Australia has not provided a commitment satisfying these requirements. In accordance with a resolution endorsed by members, affected PFRA members will not accept or undertake appointments to officiate upcoming Australia Cup, Australian Championship, or A-League Men and A-League Women trial matches while these requirements remain unsatisfied. This position has been overwhelmingly endorsed by the PFRA membership and reflects the collective position of professional referees concerning the employment and operating arrangements under which they are being asked to officiate Australian football’s elite competitions. The PFRA believes this moment is about more than the immediate dispute. Australian football regularly speaks about strengthening referee pathways, improving retention and creating a high-performance environment for match officials. Those ambitions must be reflected in the way referees are treated at the highest level of the game. Professional refereeing cannot grow without trust. It cannot succeed without independence. It cannot demand elite professional standards from its referees while offering them anything less in return. The PFRA will continue to engage with Football Australia with the aim of resolving the outstanding matters and returning its members to the field as soon as an acceptable outcome can be reached.

Source: PFRA

CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2026 – Quarter-finals (First Leg)

8-10 September 2026

Santa Fe – Vasco da Gama
Referee: Dario Herrera ARG (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Maximiliano Del Yesso ARG
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Savorani ARG
Fourth Official: Sebastian Martinez ARG
VAR: Hernan Mastrangelo ARG
AVAR: Salome Di Iorio ARG
Referee Assessor: Pedro Saucedo BOL
VAR Supervisor: Marcelo De Leon URU

Boca Juniors – Sao Paulo
Referee: Piero Maza CHI
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Retamal CHI
Assistant Referee 2: Miguel Rocha CHI
Fourth Official: Diego Flores CHI
VAR: Fernando Vejar CHI
AVAR: Miguel Araos CHI
Referee Assessor: Dario Ubriaco URU
VAR Supervisor: Victor Carrillo PER

Santos – Atletico Mineiro
Referee: Alexis Herrera VEN
Assistant Referee 1: Antoni Garcia VEN
Assistant Referee 2: Paolo Garcia VEN
Fourth Official: Augusto Aragon ECU
VAR: Carlos Orbe ECU
AVAR: Byron Romero ECU
Referee Assessor: Ubaldo Aquino PAR
VAR Supervisor: Angel Sanchez URU

Cienciano – Montevideo Torque
Referee: Wilton Sampaio BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Danilo Manis BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Boschilia BRA
Fourth Official: Paulo Zanovelli BRA
VAR: Pablo Gonçalves BRA
AVAR: Diego Pombo BRA
Referee Assessor: Hilton Moutinho BRA
VAR Supervisor: Leandro Vuaden BRA

CONMEBOL Libertadores 2026 – Quarter-finals (First Leg)

8-10 September 2026

Fluminense – Platense
Referee: Andres Matonte URU (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Horacio Ferreiro URU
Assistant Referee 2: Andres Nievas URU
Fourth Official: Mathias De Armas URU
VAR: Andres Cunha URU
AVAR: Agustin Berisso URU
Referee Assessor: Jose Buitrago COL
VAR Supervisor: Carlos Pastorino URU

Palmeiras – LDU Quito
Referee: Jesus Valenzuela VEN
Assistant Referee 1: Jorge Urrego VEN
Assistant Referee 2: Tulio Moreno VEN
Fourth Official: Yender Herrera VEN
VAR: Juan Soto VEN
AVAR: Angel Arteaga VEN
Referee Assessor: Hector Baldassi ARG
VAR Supervisor: Patricio Polic CHI

Estudiantes La Plata – Corinthians
Referee: Esteban Ostojich URU
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Soppi URU
Assistant Referee 2: Pablo Llarena URU
Fourth Official: Alberto Feres URU
VAR: Antonio Garcia URU
AVAR: Santiago Fernandez URU
Referee Assessor: Dario Ubriaco URU
VAR Supervisor: Luis Vera ECU

Independiente Del Valle – Flamengo
Referee: Facundo Tello ARG
Assistant Referee 1: Cristian Navarro ARG
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Chade ARG
Fourth Official: Leandro Rey ARG
VAR: Silvio Trucco ARG
AVAR: Lucas Novelli ARG
Referee Assessor: Wilmar Navarro COL 

VAR Supervisor: Oscar Viera PAR