Who is Slavko Vincic, the referee for Spain - France | Euro 24 semifinal

Ahead of the 2024 European Championships, France were considered the team to beat, with Real Madrid’s new galáctico signing Kylian Mbappé deemed an almost unstoppable threat. Spain, for their part, were certainly accepted as one of the potential runners in the trophy-chasing race, but few saw them at the top table of challengers. Then play began, and opinions changed.

Spain vs France: talent in abundance

Spain have, by most people’s measures, been the best side of the tournament thus far. That trademarked possession remains but Luis de la Fuente has his talented group focused on turning it into a potent attack. And despite the hard-working Álvaro Morata leading the line, goals can come from all over. Then there’s the depth. Germany’s Toni Kroos appeared to be in a hurry to remove Barcelona gem Pedri from the quarterfinal, and duly succeeded. On stepped Dani Olmo, and guess who scored. The likes of Nico Williams and should-still-be-at-school Lamine Yamal have shone from the off.

France have reached this semifinal without impressing in the way they were expected to. When questioned about this, manager Didier Deschamps had no qualms about telling people who weren’t enjoying their games to go watch something else. The truth is, though, that the French have quality throughout the team and on the bench. Players with experience of winning for club and country alike. Whether or not the nose injury to star Mbappé, and his mask requirement, impacts on his performance could be a crucial factor in determining which team progresses to face England or the Netherlands, a game which has its own refereeing controversy.

So to the man in the middle for this huge clash, Slavko Vincic, who has very recent experience with big game refereeing.

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Meet referee Slavko Vincic

You may remember Slavko Vincic from the 2024 Champions League final in May when Real Madrid overcame Borussia Dortmund. The game at Wembley Stadium in London was won by Los Blancos thanks to goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Jr. Interestingly, the Spanish full-back will be on the sidelines tonight hoping his teammates can do the job without him.

Since debuting in Slovenia’s top division in 2007, Vincic has grown in experience as a referee in the Champions League. He has officiated 30 games in Europe’s premier men’s club competition since his debut in 2016, including eight knockout-stage matches. Before officiating the aforementioned UCL final, the 44-year-old’s most prestigious assignment was in the Europa League. In May 2022, the Maribor native refereed the final of Europe’s secondary club tournament, where Eintracht Frankfurt triumphed over Rangers on penalties in Seville.

In international soccer, Vincic served as a referee at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup. He was in charge of that incredible opening match in Qatar which saw Saudi Arabia beat eventual winners Argentina 2-1 and also England’s 3-0 group stage win over geographical neighbours Wales. Following this, he was then selected as one of the 18 referees who would officiate at Euro 2024 and has already whistled for two group games: Spain vs Italy and Hungary vs Switzerland.