Who is César Ramos, the referee for the Argentina - Peru 2024 Copa América match?

César Ramos has been designated to oversee Argentina’s final group game at 2024 Copa América - as Lionel Scaloni’s men seek to finish this stage as winners of Group A and set up a ‘theoretically more accessible’ matchup in the next round. The Albiceleceste top the group on six points and are already through to the quarter finals but need at least one point from tonight’s game against Peru to finish top.

Mexican ref César Ramos - 18 years as the man in the middle

Making sure that the game runs smoothly will be Mexican referee César Ramos. The 40-year-old has already been involved in the current edition of the tournament. He oversaw Brazil’s group stage opener against Costa Rica in Inglewood, which ended without goals but with a couple of incidents. Brazil’s players appealed for a penalty when Haxzel Quirós fouled Vinicius but nothing was given; there was also the contentious issue of a disallowed goal - deemed offside by millimeters. Just three players went into Ramos’ notebook on the night - Brazilian centre-back Militão and Manfred Ugalde and skipper Francisco Calvo for the Costa Ricans.

Ramos is one of the most experienced FIFA-licensed referees in the modern game although curiously, this is his first time working at the Copa América. He made his professional debut in October 2006, refereeing the Ascenso MX game between Zacatepec and Santos Laguna in Mexico’s second tier. He made his top flight debut in July 2011 as the central match official in the Apertura 2011 Week 2 game between Rayados and Tijuana.

Ramos gets his FIFA badge

In 2014 Ramos was recognized as a full international referee by FIFA and since then he has officiated in numerous high-profile tournaments and finals. He was in charge of two games at the 2015 Gold Cup in Canada and the United States and officiated two games at the 2017 Club World Cup, including the final between Real Madrid and Grêmio.

A year later he was assigned a refereeing role at the 2018 World Cup where he whistled two group games (Brazil 1-1 Switzerland and Poland 0-3 Colombia) as well as the Round of 16 game between Uruguay and Portugal. Ramos was called back for the 2022 World Cup, overseeing four games in total in Qatar - including the semi-final between France and Morocco, in which the North Africans felt they should have had a couple of clear penalties.

Ramos has refereed several Mexican finals during his career - most recently the Clausura 2023 final between Chivas and Tigres. He was also chosen for this year’s UAE League Cup final between Al-Wahda and Al-Ain.

During his pro career he has delved into his top pocket 2065 times, issuing a grand total of 1965 yellow cards and 100 direct reds. As for penalties, he has blown for 121 of them - the vast majority in the Liga MX.

This will be the second time that Ramos has refereed an Argentina game. He was in charge of a friendly against Bolivia on 4 September 2015 which Gerardo Martino’s team won 7-0 with Messi, Agüero and Lavezzi all grabbing a couple of goals each.