Arab match officials account for 23 appointments at World Cup 2026

Arab referees, assistant referees and video match officials hold 23 of the officiating appointments at the FIFA World Cup 2026, the tournament staged across 16 cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States from June 11 to July 19. FIFA named 52 referees, 88 assistant referees and 30 video assistant referees — 170 officials in total representing 50 countries. The Arab contingent includes nine central referees, nine assistant referees and five VAR officials drawn from Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan. Notable appointments include Morocco’s Jalal Jayed, officiating his first World Cup and reported to be the first Moroccan central referee at the finals since 2002, and Mauritania’s Dahane Beida; other Arab central referees named include Mustapha Ghorbal, Adham Makhadmeh, Abdulrahman Al-Jassim, Khalid Al-Turais, Amin Mohamed Omar and Omar Al Ali.

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Assistant referees from the region include Jordan’s Ahmad Al-Roalle and Mohammad Al-Kalaf, Egypt’s Ahmed Hossam Eldin Taha and Mahmoud Abouregal, Morocco’s Mostafa Akarkad and Zakaria Brinsi, and others, while VAR duties feature officials such as Egypt’s Mahmoud Mohamed Ashour and Morocco’s Hamza El-Fariq. Somalia’s Omar Abdulkadir Artan, initially appointed among match referees, was withdrawn after U.S. authorities denied him entry despite a valid visa following an extended immigration interview; he returned to Somalia and was publicly received. The 2026 tournament — the first to feature 48 teams and the largest World Cup expansion — will conclude with a final in the New York/New Jersey area, as reported by SANA