FIFA World Cup 2026 is probably the only event where the referees are attracting as much attention as the players. Considering that the event saw several controversial decisions and referees were accused of favoritism, all eyes are on how FIFA handles the last three biggest games of the World Cup. Just before the France-Spain semi-final, FIFA announced the official panel. The selection hints at how the previous allegations were considered.
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“𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: The referees for the France vs. Spain game: El Salvador x2, Nicaragua, Sweden x2,” The Touchline shared via X.
So, no one selected either French or Spanish. Iván Barton from El Salvador is the central referee for the France vs. Spain 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final match. This semifinal serves as Barton’s fourth match assignment during this World Cup tournament, following his previous group stage and knockout round fixtures.
However, despite FIFA’s work on ensuring neutral refereeing in the game, the selected panel is still not free of controversy. For instance, just months before the World Cup, El Salvador’s football federation suspended Barton for two matches domestically following highly controversial calls during a high-profile Clausura tournament match between Águila and Alianza.
David Moran will be the assistant referee 1, and Antonio Pupiro will be the assistant referee 2.
Glenn Nyberg is the 4th official selected for the Spain-France match. He drew intense fury from Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel during the 2024 Champions League quarterfinal. Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhães picked up the ball with his hands inside the penalty box after the keeper’s whistle, but Nyberg refused to award a penalty.
Further, Mahbod Begi from Sweden is the Reserve Assistant Referee.
Just before the intense game between France and Spain, FIFA is challenging itself to keep the game controversy-free.
The accusations against refereeing in the ongoing World Cup escalated to the highest after Egypt coach Hassom Hassan made a few public remarks.
“We looked better than the reigning champions — better in everything. But the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it,” Hassan said, after losing to Argentina. “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.”
Even the Egyptian Football Association released a statement:
“Several key incidents raised serious concerns and left profound questions about the consistency and fairness of decisions that directly influenced the course of the game.”
FIFA has three more games to put all these debates to rest.
