Who is Darío Herrera, the referee for Uruguay vs Brazil at Copa América 2024?

The Copa América enters its decisive stage with the two remaining quarter finals to be decided later today. Top of the bill is undoubtedly Uruguay’s clash with Brazil in Las Vegas - the game which concludes the round. Both sides feature big name players who will be of interest to fans in Europe - Vinicius, Fede Valverde, Rodrygo, Militão, Luis Díaz, Darwin Núñez, Allison, Raphinha... and Luis Suárez, now Messi’s partner in crime at Inter Miami.

Two teams with 24 Copa América titles between them, and one of them will be going home early.

Darío Herrera’s 11 years as a professional referee

Argentine match official Darío Herrera has been selected to referee the game. This is his first time at the tournament and the second match he has been put in charge of, having whistled the group game between Colombia and Paraguay on 25 June.

One of the younger referees at Copa América 2024, Herrera has spent most of his professional career working as referee in the top tier of the Argentinean league. After a couple of seasons in the lower divisions, he made his top flight debut in May 2013, shortly after officiating the Copa Argentina first round tie between River Plate and Estudiantes.

After establishing himself in the domestic league, Herrera was selected for the Copa Liberatdores Round of 16 SuperClásico between Boca Juniors and River Plate in May 2015. He gained his FIFA license that same year, but didn’t take charge of his first international until 2017 when he was one of the referees designated for the U20 South American Championship which was held in Ecuador.

His first international at senior level was a friendly between Peru and Costa Rica in June 2019. He was in the middle for three 2022 World Cup qualifiers - including games that involved both Brazil and Uruguay but wasn’t among the delegation of match officials who were chosen for the finals in Qatar.

The 39-year-old has overseen eight finals during his career, all but one in domestic competition. He was selected for this year’s King’s Cup final in Jeddah which saw Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr lose to Al-Hilal in a penalty shootout.

Herrera’s debut at Copa América 2024

Brazil aren’t best pleased about having another Argentinean in charge of making decisions. The CBF felt aggrieved that the team wasn’t awarded a clear penalty in the last group game against Colombia in an incident that was reviewed in the VAR room by Mauro Vigliano. Tournament organizers CONMEBOL later acknowledged the mistake.

Taking a closer look at Herrera’s stats, he has reached for his top pocket a total of 2,259 times - over half of that number corresponds to games in Argentina’s top flight. He has sent 160 players back to the dressing room - half of that for two bookings. He has issued three yellow cards during the current Copa América tournament - Colombia’s Jefferson Lerma and Paraguay pair Andrés Cubas and Gustavo Velázquez all going into his notebook.

Uruguay vs Brazil: start time, how to watch

The 2024 Copa América quarter final between Uruguay and Brazil will be played at Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada on Saturday 6 July 2024, kicking off at at 9 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. PDT. Viewers in the US can watch the game on Fox Network, TUDN USA, Univisión and ViX, while you can also stream the action on fuboTV, which offers new users a free introductory trial.

Who are Darío Herrera’s assistant referees? Who is the VAR?

Herrera’s assistant referees in Las Vegas will be compatriots Juan P. Belatti and Cristian Navarro, who has been designated as the line officials. The fourth official will be El Salvador’s Ivan Barton and the fifth official, Nicaragua’s Henri Pupiro. The video assistant referee (VAR) will be Mexican Guillermo Pacheco. The first assistant VAR (AVAR) will be Erick Miranda (Mexico), accompanied by Nicaragua’s Tatiana Guzman.