Referee Daniel Laryea officiates during the FIFA World Cup African qualifiers Match Group A between Egypt and Ethiopia at Cairo International Stadium in Cairo, Egypt, on September 5, 2025. (Photo by Ayman Aref/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

No Ghanaian referee as FIFA names officials for 2026 World Cup

· GhanaSoccernet

FIFA has released the official list of referees selected for the 2026 World Cup, with no Ghanaian official included among those appointed for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The announcement comes as a disappointment for Ghana, particularly for Daniel Laryea, widely regarded as the country’s top referee, who had been hoping to make the final cut. Laryea enhanced 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, his name was absent from FIFA’s final shortlist, which features a mix of experienced officials from across the globe.

Among those selected are high-profile referees such as Szymon Marciniak, Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor, alongside Africa’s representatives, including Mustapha Ghorbal and Abongile Tom.

epa10372276 (L-R) Assistant referee Tomasz Listkiewicz, Lionel Messi of Argentina, the fourth official Ismail Elfath, referee Szymon Marciniak, Hugo Lloris of France, and assistant referee Pawel Sokolnicki pose ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Final between Argentina and France at Lusail stadium, Lusail, Qatar, 18 December 2022. EPA/Noushad Thekkayil
Dostawca: PAP/EPA.

 

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.

By Enoch Fiifi Forson