Ismail Elfath has been appointed to referee England’s 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final clash against Argentina, marking another major assignment for the experienced official who has twice overseen trophy-winning matches involving Lionel Messi.
The 44-year-old has officiated two group-stage fixtures at the tournament — Japan versus the Netherlands and Uruguay against Spain — before taking charge of Norway’s shock round-of-16 victory over five-time champions Brazil.
Elfath has issued six yellow cards so far at the World Cup and produced one straight red card, sending off Uruguay midfielder Agustin Canobbio for a dangerous challenge on Spain defender Pau Cubarsi.
After he was dismissed, Canobbio confronted the referee and grabbed his shirt.
Elfath’s fellow Americans Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins will be assistant referees, while Italian Maurizio Mariani is the fourth official.
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Elfath was the fourth official for Argentina’s 2022 World Cup final win over France and was the referee when Messi won his first trophy for Inter Miami – a penalty shootout win against Nashville SC in the 2023 Leagues Cup final.
He has officiated in Major League Soccer since 2012 and has twice won MLS referee of the year.
Originally from Morocco, Elfath moved to America as an 18-year-old after winning a US government-backed diversity visa lottery.
Meanwhile, England’s Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor have been ruled out of contention to referee the World Cup final because of Fifa regulations around conflict of interest.
Referees cannot take charge of matches involving their own country, but English and Argentine officials also cannot referee games involving the two nations because of their political rivalry, in part because of the Falklands conflict in 1982.
Argentine referee Facundo Tello is out of contention for the same reason, with all three officials also ineligible for the third-place play-off as it is guaranteed to involve one of the teams.
The regulations also ruled Taylor out of refereeing the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France.
