FIFA has unveiled the official list of referees for the 2026 World Cup, with no Ghanaian official included among those selected for the tournament to be hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The development comes as a major disappointment for Ghana, particularly for Daniel Laryea, who had been widely tipped to secure a place on the final list. Laryea strengthened his credentials on the continental stage after officiating the semi-final clash between Morocco and Nigeria at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Despite his growing reputation and consistent performances in recent years, he was overlooked in FIFA’s final shortlist, which features a blend of experienced and highly-rated officials from across the world.
Among those selected are top referees such as Szymon Marciniak, Michael Oliver, and Anthony Taylor. Africa’s representation on the list includes Mustapha Ghorbal and Abongile Tom.
The absence of a Ghanaian referee highlights the intense competition for places at the global showpiece, where only a select number of officials are chosen based on performance, experience, and fitness assessments.
The full list of selected referees is as follows:
Abdulrahman Al Jassim (Qatar)
Khalid Al Turais (Saudi Arabia)
Yusuke Araki (Japan)
Omar Abdulkadir Artan (Somalia)
Pierre Atcho (Gabon)
Ivan Barton (El Salvador)
Dahane Beida (Mauritania)
Juan Gabriel Benitez (Paraguay)
Juan Calderon (Costa Rica)
Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Ismail Elfath (USA)
Espen Eskas (Norway)
Alireza Faghani (Australia)
Yael Falcon Perez (Argentina)
Drew Fischer (Canada)
Cristian Garay (Chile)
Katia Garcia (Mexico)
Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)
Alejandro Hernandez (Spain)
Dario Herrera (Argentina)
Jalal Jayed (Morocco)
Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)
Istvan Kovacs (Romania)
Francois Letexier (France)
Ning Ma (China)
Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)
Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)
Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
Hector Said Martinez (Honduras)
Amin Mohamed (Egypt)
Oshane Nation (Jamaica)
Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
Michael Oliver (England)
Omar Al Ali (UAE)
Kevin Ortega (Peru)
Tori Penso (USA)
Joao Pinheiro (Portugal)
Ramon Abatti (Brazil)
Cesar Ramos (Mexico)
Andres Rojas (Colombia)
Sandro Schaerer (Switzerland)
Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
Anthony Taylor (England)
Gustavo Tejera (Uruguay)
Facundo Tello (Argentina)
Abongile Tom (South Africa)
Clement Turpin (France)
Jesus Valenzuela (Venezuela)
Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)
Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)
Felix Zwayer (Germany)
The list reflects FIFA’s continued effort to ensure global representation, with officials drawn from all confederations.
Ghana’s absence on the officiating list means the country will have no direct representation among match officials at the tournament, despite its presence as one of the competing nations, with the Black Stars set to face Panama, Croatia and England in the group stage.
The 2026 World Cup, which kicks off on June 11, will be the first edition to feature 48 teams and will be staged across multiple cities in North America.
