Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic will officiate the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina on Sunday at the New York-New Jersey Stadium.
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This was confirmed by FIFA through its social networks late Thursday, accompanied by an emotional video in which the referee could not hold back tears upon hearing the news. “Playing dressed in golden stripes is beautiful, I’m sure you agree with me, it’s absolutely great,” says the organizer before announcing the referee appointed for the match.
Vincic has already refereed three matches in this tournament, including the 1-1 draw between Brazil and Morocco in Group C, Algeria’s 1-2 victory against Jordan, and the round of 16 match between Mexico and Ecuador, which ended with a 2-0 win for the North Americans and the expulsion of Ecuadorian Piero Hincapié for covering his mouth while arguing with Mexican Santiago Giménez.
Slovenians Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic will accompany Vincic as assistant referees, while Jordanian Adham Makhadmeh will act as the fourth official.
Background in 2022
Vincic refereed Barça’s defeat against Inter, in a match where he disallowed a goal by Pedri due to a disputed hand by Ansu Fati
The Slovenian referee has a past that does not bring good memories to the Argentine national team, as he participated in the last defeat of the Albiceleste in World Cups. It was in the last tournament, Qatar 2022, when Scaloni’s team was defeated 1-2 by Saudi Arabia in the group stage and in Argentina’s first match. In that match, Argentina scored 3 offside goals that were later disallowed by VAR. Vincic has never refereed the Spanish national team in a World Cup.
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On the other hand, Barça players Pedri and Ferran Torres also have a history with Vincic’s refereeing, who officiated a match between FC Barcelona and Inter Milan in the Champions League group stage during the 2022-2023 season. The refereeing was the protagonist of that match due to a rigorously disallowed goal by the Canarian midfielder for a prior hand by Ansu Fati and a penalty not awarded in favor of the Blaugranas, who were narrowly defeated at the Giuseppe Meazza.
That season, Barcelona ended up playing in the Europa League after finishing third in the group behind Inter and Bayern.
Third and fourth place: France vs England
FIFA also announced that Venezuelan Jesús Valenzuela will referee the third-place match between France and England at the Miami Stadium on Saturday, along with his compatriots Jorge Urrego and Tulio Moreno as assistants, and Moroccan Jalal Javed as the fourth official.
