FIFA excludes Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs from World Cup 2026 knockout stage

FIFA announced that 13 referees will remain on the roster for the semifinals, third‑place match and final of the 2026 World Cup. Romanian official Istvan Kovacs, who officiated the group‑stage matches Tunisia vs Japan (0‑4) and Jordan vs Argentina (1‑3), was not selected for the knockout phase. He will receive the standard participation bonus of $100,000 plus $3,000 for each of his two matches, bringing his total earnings to about $106,000.

The retained officials include six UEFA referees – Poland’s Szymon Marciniak, Italy’s Maurizio Mariani, Sweden’s Glenn Nyberg, Portugal’s João Pinheiro, Slovenia’s Slavko Vinčić and Norway’s Espen Eskas – as well as two CONMEBOL referees (Brazil’s Wilton Sampaio and Venezuela’s Jesús Valenzuela), two CONCACAF officials (El Salvador’s Iván Barton and USA’s Ismail Elfath), two AFC referees (Iran’s Alireza Faghani and Jordan’s Adham Makhadmeh) and one CAF referee (Morocco’s Jalal Jayed). Brazilian Wilton Sampaio is highlighted by some media as a leading candidate for the final, while Portuguese João Pinheiro remains in the pool for possible fourth‑official duties.

Former officials have suggested that Kovacs’ omission may stem from political tensions between FIFA and UEFA rather than performance issues, noting that “details of VAR and personal affinities can influence such decisions,” according to former Romanian referee Marius Avram.