Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé are among the big names expected to headline the major stories at the 2026 World Cup this summer. However, 52 less famous figures could also have decisive roles to play as the tournament unfolds across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

We are talking, of course, about referees, who arguably have never had more prominence or faced more scrutiny. The same goes for VAR officials, who will be used in a third successive World Cup.

UEFA leads the way

As for the on-field officials, FIFA has selected 52 referees from its six regional confederations. UEFA leads the way with 15, many of whom fans will be familiar with from the Champions League.

They include Poland’s Szymon Marciniak, who took charge of the 2022 World Cup final, and Romania’s István Kovács, who was in the middle for the 2024-25 Champions League final.

American officials included

CONMEBOL will send 12 referees to the World Cup, with CONCACAF next with nine. They include two American officials, Ismail Elfath and Tori Penso.

Penso is one of two female on-field officials. The other is Katia García of Mexico.

World Cup 2026 on-field referees

• Ramon Abatti (Brazil)
• Omar Al Ali (United Arab Emirates)
• Yusuke Araki (Japan)
• Omar Abdulkadir Artan (Somalia)
• Pierre Atcho (Gabon)
• Dahane Beida (Mauritania)
• Juan Gabriel Benitez (Paraguay)
• Juan Calderon (Costa Rica)
• Raphael Claus (Brazil)
• Ismail Elfath (United States)
• Espen Eskas (Norway)
• Alireza Faghani (Australia)
• Drew Fischer (Canada)
• Cristian Garay (Chile)
• Katia Garcia (Mexico)
• Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)
• Alejandro Hernandez (Spain)
• Dario Herrera (Argentina)
• Abdulrahman Al Jassim (Qatar)
• Jalal Jayed (Morocco)
• Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)
• Istvan Kovacs (Romania)
• Francois Letexier (France)
• Ning Ma (China)
• Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)
• Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)
• Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
• Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
• Hector Said Martinez (Honduras)
• Amin Mohamed (Egypt)
• Oshane Nation (Jamaica)
• Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
• Michael Oliver (England)
• Kevin Ortega (Peru)
• Tori Penso (United States)
• Yael Falcon Perez (Argentina)
• Joao Pinheiro (Portugal)
• Cesar Ramos (Mexico)
• Andres Rojas (Colombia)
• Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)
• Sandro Schaeerer (Switzerland)
• Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
• Anthony Taylor (England)
• Gustavo Tejera (Uruguay)
• Facundo Tello (Argentina)
• Abongile Tom (South Africa)
• Khalid Al Turais (Saudi Arabia)
• Clement Turpin (France)
• Jesus Valenzuela (Venezuela)
• Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)
• Felix Zwayer (Germany)

In addition to the main referees, 88 assistant referees and 30 VAR officials have also been selected for the tournament.

Consult the full list of match officials for World Cup 2026.

Representatives from the United States also include Kyle Atkins, Brooke Mayo, Kathryn Nesbitt and Corey Parker as assistant referees, along with Joe Dickerson and Armando Villarreal as VAR officials.

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