Olaleye IDOWU
2026 World Cup: FIFA Hints About Referee For Argentina Vs England Semi-Final
FIFA has confirmed that Ismail Elfath will be the referee in charge of the 2026 World Cup semi-final between England and Argentina.
The American official has already refereed three games at the tournament.
Elfath most recently took charge of Norway’s World Cup last-16 win over Brazil.
In that game, he was at the centre of two contentious penalty calls for Brazil. He did not give a Kristoffer Ajer trip on Matheus Cunha, which was later given by VAR. Bruno Guimaraes then missed the resulting spot kick.
Then in added time, Elfath gave a penalty for Leo Ostigard’s apparent elbow on Casemiro, which Neymar scored a late consolation from.
His other two games were the Netherlands’ 2-2 draw in Japan in the first round of group games and Spain’s 1-0 win over Uruguay.
In the latter game, Elfath sent of Uruguay’s Augustin Canobbio for serious foul play in a very high-tempered match.
