World Cup 2026 Referees: Full List and English Officials

On 9 April 2026, FIFA approved the list of officials who will work at the 2026 World Cup. The list features 170 officials from six regional confederations. England will be represented by seven officials: two referees, Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor, four assistant referees and one VAR official.

Who will win the 2026 World Cup?

Below is the full list of referees for the 2026 World Cup, profiles of the key figures and the refereeing innovations set to be introduced at the tournament in America.

Content

1. World Cup 2026 referees list
   1. Referees at the World Cup 2026
   2. Assistant referees at the World Cup 2026
   3. VAR officials at the World Cup 2026
2. English referees at the World Cup 2026
   1. Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor: England’s main referees
   2. England’s assistant referees and VAR official
3. Why the official list says England, not the UK
4. Are there any Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish referees at the World Cup 2026?
5. How FIFA selects World Cup referees
6. VAR at the World Cup 2026: how video officials will work
7. Female referees at the World Cup 2026

World Cup 2026 referees list

The upcoming tournament will be the biggest yet in terms of the number of appointed officials. Alongside well-known referees such as César Ramos, Facundo Tello, Raphael Claus, Wilton Sampaio, Szymon Marciniak, Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor, we will also see officiating teams from Oceania and the Middle East.

The FIFA Referees Committee, led by Pierluigi Collina, announced the full list in April 2026. It includes:

• 52 referees;

• 88 assistant referees;

• 30 video match officials.

The number of officials is linked to the new World Cup format, with 104 matches to be played instead of 64.

Referees at the World Cup 2026

In total, 52 referees from six confederations will travel to the World Cup:

Detailed statistics for every referee will be available in the Betting Centre before the start of the 2026 World Cup matches.

Assistant referees at the World Cup 2026

The referees will be supported by 88 assistant referees. Some of them work in established teams, for example Michael Oliver with Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring, and Anthony Taylor with Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn.

Assistant referees at the 2026 World Cup 

VAR officials at the World Cup 2026

A total of 30 VAR officials have also been selected. Jarred Gillett is the representative from the English refereeing group.

VAR officials at the 2026 World Cup

English referees at the World Cup 2026

England will be represented at the tournament by seven match officials: two referees, four assistant referees and one video assistant referee.

English match officials

Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor: England’s main referees

For both referees, this will be a second consecutive World Cup. Both have also worked at Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 with their teams, not to mention their Premier League experience: Oliver has taken charge of 428 matches, while Taylor has refereed 434.

Michael Oliver tends to let the game flow and does not reach for his cards unnecessarily, with an average yellow card total of 3.4 in the Premier League. At international level, that figure rises to 4.7. At the 2022 World Cup, he showed an average of six yellow cards per game, placing him in the top five for cautions issued.

Taylor is only more uncompromising at European international level, where he shows almost five yellow cards per match. In his two matches at the 2022 World Cup, only five players were booked.

England’s assistant referees and VAR official

Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring accompany Oliver, having worked with him for several years. For Mainwaring, however, this will be his first World Cup, as he only received his FIFA licence last year.

Anthony Taylor’s team, Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn, worked together at two European Championships and the World Cup in Qatar, in addition to hundreds of European club and Premier League matches.

Gillett made his name in Asia, where he was named the best referee five times. As a video match official, he worked at the Women’s Euro 2025 and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.

Why the official list says England, not the UK

In FIFA lists and other official documents, referees are identified by the names of their football associations. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own structures, which is why British officials are listed as England representatives.

Are there any Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish referees at the World Cup 2026?

The main British refereeing presence at the 2026 World Cup comes from England and, in particular, the Premier League. No other representatives from the Home Nations have been selected for the tournament.

The only potential candidate was Nick Walsh, who was promoted to UEFA’s elite category and is eligible to officiate in European knockout matches. Compared with other candidates, however, Walsh lacked the experience needed to make the final list.

How FIFA selects World Cup referees

The referee selection process is handled by a dedicated FIFA referees committee, led by Pierluigi Collina and Massimo Busacca. The process can be divided into several stages:

1. Initial list. The selection process begins as early as the end of the previous World Cup, after which Collina has around 200 names at his disposal;

2. Seminars and inspector monitoring. Throughout the period leading up to the next World Cup, the selected referees regularly attend seminars and take physical fitness tests. Naturally, every match they officiate is also analysed in fine detail by FIFA inspectors;

3. Formation of core officiating teams. Referees from UEFA, Concacaf and CONMEBOL are assessed in trios, consisting of one referee and two assistants. That means the work of the entire team is evaluated over a four-year cycle;

4. Final cut. Six months before the World Cup, the list is reduced to the required number, and the selected candidates attend the final seminars.

Separate assistant referees and officials are also included in the tournament list, from which international teams are formed. They usually work one or two group stage matches, while preference in the knockout rounds is given to proven trios.

There is also a clear logic to FIFA’s selection approach, built on three pillars.

1. Consistency and experience. Experience in official tournaments is taken into account, with final stages of competitions naturally valued more highly. The absence of bans or controversial decisions is also considered. 

2. Individual officials from less developed federations. Refereeing trios mainly come from UEFA, CONMEBOL and Concacaf. For example, Somalia’s Artan or Campbell Kirk from New Zealand will work as part of international teams or as fourth officials.

A new technology will also be used at the 2026 World Cup: a first-person referee camera. The system has been tested in several top competitions, including Serie A and the Club World Cup, but it will be used at a World Cup for the first time.

VAR at the World Cup 2026: how video officials will work

As many as 30 officials at the 2026 World Cup will be responsible for video replays and assisting the referee. In addition, the tournament in America will trial a new semi-automated offside system using 3D models of players.

Video reviews can be used in the following cases:

• Checking a goal;

• Awarding a penalty;

• A sending-off;

• Player identification, meaning the correct issuing of a caution;

• A corner, which is a new feature for the 2026 World Cup;

• A second yellow card, which is another new feature for the 2026 World Cup. 

Given FIFA’s meticulous approach and the growing concern among referees over incorrect decisions, which could lead to sanctions and potential exclusion from shortlists for future tournaments, we can expect plenty of interventions from video assistant referees.

With FIFA still only discussing the idea of stopped clock playing time, matches are likely to run beyond 100 minutes again, while nine minutes in the added time column became the norm as early as the 2022 World Cup.

Female referees at the World Cup 2026

As at the 2022 World Cup, female officials will be represented at the tournament in America. Given the expansion of the competition, the 2026 World Cup will feature two female referees, three female assistant referees and one female video match official.

Women match officials at the 2026 World Cup

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