Who is Ismail Elfath, the referee for Brazil vs Norway in the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup?

Norway and Brazil will be looking to join Morocco and France in the 2026 World Cup quarter finals. Only one of them will go through - the winner of tonight’s game will book a ticket for a showdown in Miami on July 11.

Judging by both team’s campaigns so far - this afternoon’s Round of 16 tie at MetLife Stadium is a tough one to call. Norway, with their Viking rowing chant, are clearly loving every second of this World Cup. Solbakken’s team have only suffered one defeat - to France. No shame in that. Otherwise the goals have been flowing freely for the Scandinavians - with 10 goals under their belts they are the tournament’s fifth top scorers.

Brazil appear to be getting into their groove after a sluggish start in which they found themselves behind to Morocco in their opening game. During the group stage, all of the team’s goals came from two players: Vinicius and Matheus Cunha - two of the dangermen who Norway will need to keep a close eye on.

FIFA have assigned match official Ismail Elfath to be in charge of today’s game in East Rutherford.

Who are the officials for the Norway vs Brazil game?

Elfath will be assisted by Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins. The fourth official is Said Martínez from Honduras. In the VAR room, Tatiana Guzmán (Nicaragua) will be following the game assisted by Leodán González (Uruguay) and Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain).

Who is Ismail Elfath?

Elfath was born in Casablanca, Morocco on March 3, 1982, and emmigrated to the United States in 2001 when he was still a teenager.

He made his MLS refereeing debut in May 2012, overseeing the Week 11 game between Montreal and New York Red Bulls.

In 2016, he gained his FIFA badge and since then has built up experience reffing games in Intercontinental Cup, CONCACAF Champions Cup, the Olympic Games, Copa América, the Gold Cup, and the Club World Cup.

Elfath made his World Cup at Qatar 2022, when he was assigned the Group H game between Portugal and Ghana - a game which didn’t pass without incident. He oversaw two more games at the tournament - the group stage clash between Cameroon and Brazil and the Round of 16 tie between Japan and Croatia.

At the current World Cup, he has overseen two games so far - Netherlands vs Japan in Group F and Uruguay vs Spain in Group H. In total, he has handed out seven bookings and sent one player off - Uruguay’s Agustín Canobbio for a reckless challenge on Cubarsí.

Has Elfath ever been involved in controversy?

The simple answer to that is yes. On his World Cup debut, Elfath disallowed a seemingly legal Cristiano Ronaldo goal, alleging a foul took place in the build-up. Needless to say, Cristiano wasn’t too happy about it.

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