Who is the referee today for Spain vs Saudi Arabia at the 2026 World Cup?

Will his cards have photos of snowmen on them? Will he wear tinsel? Will he be dragged around the pitch in a sled by 18 reindeer? Has he heard all of these before? Probably, so I apologise.

Raphael Claus is not the most famous brother of the two, but he’s certainly the one who decides how many pigs-in-blankets per plate it is round at his parents’ house in December.

The German referee, when he’s wildly gesticulating at his brother for illegal parking and overloading his vehicle, he’s busy running around a football pitch telling off footballers for dirty slide tackles and bad-mouthing his colleagues.

I’m joking, of course, but I had to get it out of my system. Raphael Claus is an experienced referee with over 260 appearances in the top division in Brazil and refereed the 2024 Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia in 2024, and is a regular name on the match sheet in the Copa Libertadores.

So far at the World Cup, Claus is yet to take charge of a game, but he has experience at the 2022 edition, overseeing both England’s 6-2 win over Iran and Morocco’s 2-1 win over Canada.

Danilo Manis and Rafael Alves will be the elves - sorry, linesmen - on the sidelines, while Andres Rojas is the fourth official. As for the VAR, we’ve got Nicolas Gallo of Colombia. Mexican pair Erick Miranda is the assistant VAR, while Guillermo Pacheco is the support VAR.

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