The stage is set for one of the biggest games of the FIFA World Cup, but attention is already shifting away from the players. The governing body has announced the officiating crew for the semifinal between Argentina and England, which has sparked discussion online after fans found an interesting statistic involving Lionel Messi.
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American referee Ismail Elfath will head the crew for the matchup, assisted by American assistants Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins. Italian Maurizio Mariani will be the fourth official, and his countryman Daniele Bindoni will be the reserve assistant. Interestingly, a connection between Messi and games refereed by Elfath has been pointed out by fans online.
“The semi-final between England and Argentina will be officiated by MLS referee Ismail Elfath,” a post from @TouchmineX on X read. “Since Messi joined Inter Miami, they have a 100% win record under him and also won the Leagues Cup final. England have been robbed even before the game has started.”
Elfath has refereed three regular-season Inter Miami games since Messi joined the MLS team, as well as the 2023 Leagues Cup final between them and Nashville. Inter Miami has claimed three points in each game refereed by the American.
The last international game Elfath was a part of, with Messi, was the 2022 World Cup final, when Argentina won in a late-game penalty shootout against France. That game saw two penalties awarded in total, which is the most in any World Cup final. Elfath served as the fourth official behind referee Szymon Marciniak.
This tournament, Elfath has officiated three games: Japan vs Netherlands, Uruguay vs Spain, and Brazil vs Norway. He has issued seven yellow cards and one red card to Uruguayan Agustin Canobbio.
This game will mark the first time England and Argentina have played each other in the World Cup since 2002, with many previous matchups having been incredibly controversial. Fans would remember the Hand of God goal by Diego Maradona in 1986, and a red card for David Beckham in 1998.
Argentina’s World Cup run this year has been filled with refereeing controversy, including Lionel Messi avoiding a red card for fouling Algerian Aissa Mandi, as well as the much-debated VAR-ruled-out goal for Egypt in Argentina’s 3-2 win against them in the Round of 16.
Even in their quarterfinal, the “mistaken identity” protocol was used to overturn a yellow card for Leandro Paredes and instead issue it to Switzerland’s Breel Embolo, resulting in him being ejected from the game.
