The referee team appointed for the final match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup between the national teams of Argentina and Spain has been announced. This was officially reported by the International Football Federation.
It is noted that the decisive match will be officiated by experienced Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić. He will be assisted on the sidelines by his compatriots Tomaž Klančnik and Andraž Kovačič. The fourth referee duties have been assigned to Adham Makhadmeh from the United Arab Emirates. Muhammad Alkalaf has been appointed as the reserve assistant referee.
The 46-year-old Slavko Vinčić has worked on three matches during this World Cup. He officiated the group stage matches Brazil — Morocco (1:1), Algeria — Jordan (2:1), and the Round of 16 match Mexico — Ecuador (2:0). He is recognized as one of the most experienced and respected referees in Europe. Nevertheless, his appointment to the final was an unexpected decision for many experts.
Previously, most football experts were predicting that the decisive match would be officiated by Polish referee Szymon Marciniak. However, he was not assigned any game in the knockout stage. Some foreign publications explain this by suggesting that the controversy regarding Lionel Messi not receiving a yellow card in the Argentina — Algeria match may have influenced this.
The name Slavko Vinčić is well known to Argentina fans. To date, he has officiated only one official match involving the «albiceleste». That was the group stage match of the 2022 World Cup against Saudi Arabia, in which Argentina lost 1:2 despite a goal by Lionel Messi. This match was recorded as one of the biggest sensations in World Cup history.
Nevertheless, Argentina recovered from that defeat and went on to win the world championship at the end of the tournament. Now, four years later, Slavko Vinčić will again officiate a World Cup final involving Argentina.
