Refereeing plays a key role in football, and the World Cup is no exception. As the final match of the tournament approaches, we take a look at the possible referees.
The final will be played on Sunday, December 18, between Argentina and France. Argentina will look to win its first World Cup since 1986, while France will try and win consecutively from 2018.
Of the 36 referees that participate in the World Cup, only 13 are left, and those are Mustapha Ghorbal (Argelia), Wilton Sampaio (Brazil), Raphael Claus (Brazil), Anthony Taylor (England), Daniele Orsato (Italy), Cesar Ramos (Mexico), Szymon Marciniak (Poland), Ismail Elfath (United States), Danny Makkelie (Netherlands), Muhammad Abdulla Hassan Muhammad (UAE), Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar), and Jesus Valenzuela (Venezuela).
Due to the competitive nature of Argentina and Brazil, both Sampaio and Claus have fewer chances to be the referees of the match. So do Orsato and Ramos, who have worked in the semi-finals. Elfath, on the other hand, was born in Morocco.
The most likely candidates to referee the final match of the World Cup are Taylor, Ghorbal, Al-Jassim, Marciniak, and Makkelie.
