Seven African referees have been named among the officials selected for the FIFA World Cup 2026, but once again, no Nigerian made the list—extending a trend that has persisted across recent editions of football’s biggest tournament.
The expanded 48-team competition, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, will run from 11 June to 19 July, featuring a record 104 matches across multiple venues.
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As part of preparations, FIFA unveiled its final list of match officials, comprising 52 referees, 88 assistant referees, and 30 video match officials drawn from all six confederations and 50 Member Associations. The governing body described the selection as the most extensive officiating line-up in World Cup history.
From Africa, seven referees were included, reflecting the continent’s growing footprint in elite officiating. Leading the group is Gabon’s Pierre Ghislain Atcho, alongside South Africa’s Tom Abongile and Somalia’s Omar Abdulkadir Artan. The trio is joined by Mauritania’s Dahane Beida, Algeria’s Mustapha Ghorbal, Egypt’s Amin Mohamed Omar, and Morocco’s Jalal Jayed.
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However, Nigeria’s absence remains a recurring decimal. Despite the country’s long football pedigree and regular presence at FIFA tournaments, no Nigerian referee has been selected for multiple global or even continental competitions in recent years, raising questions about the country’s representation in top-tier officiating.
FIFA maintained that the appointments were strictly merit-based, guided by its “quality first” principle. According to Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, the selected officials emerged from a rigorous process spanning more than three years.
“The selected match officials are the very best in the world,” Mr Collina said in a statement issued by the world football governing body on Thursday. “They were identified, monitored, and assessed consistently in domestic and international competitions, as well as at FIFA tournaments.”
He added that the scale of the 2026 edition demands a larger, better-prepared officiating team, noting that FIFA Team One includes 41 more officials than were appointed for Qatar 2022.
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“This will be the biggest World Cup in history, and each official must be ready to contribute to its success,” Mr Collina said, while also highlighting the inclusion of six female match officials as part of FIFA’s ongoing effort to develop women’s refereeing.
FIFA’s Director of Refereeing, Massimo Busacca, explained that preparations began immediately after the 2022 tournament, involving seminars, workshops, and continuous performance monitoring.
The selected officials will converge in Miami on 31 May for a 10-day preparatory seminar, after which video match officials will move to Dallas, home of the International Broadcast Centre. Daily training sessions, supported by match analysts and technical staff, are planned throughout the tournament.
Technology will again play a central role, with goal-line technology, an enhanced semi-automated offside system, and connected ball technology all set to be deployed. For the first time, fans will also gain access to the referee’s on-field perspective through body cameras enhanced by artificial intelligence.
