Match Officials Appointed For FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2026

Doha, Qatar: The FIFA Referees Committee has announced the match officials who will take charge of fixtures at this year's FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2026, which will be contested from November 19 to December 13.

A total of 81 match officials, comprising 27 referees and 54 assistant referees from 36 FIFA Member Associations, have been selected to oversee matches during the competition.

The appointments include two all-female refereeing trios, comprising six officials in total, underlining FIFA's continued commitment to providing leading female match officials with opportunities to perform at the highest level of international football.

The tournament will bring together 48 teams and feature 104 matches, with all games to be played in the Aspire Zone, and the final at Khalifa International Stadium – a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 venue. It will be the second edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be staged annually in Qatar as part of the country's five-year hosting cycle.

“Last year's tournament presented a refereeing operation of significant scale and complexity, and the quality and consistency demonstrated by the match officials were extremely high,” FIFA Chief Refereeing Officer and Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina said.

During the tournament, the match officials will be supported by a professional FIFA team of refereeing instructors, medical and physiotherapy expertise, fitness coaches and additional refereeing specialists in video technology and organisation.

Football Video Support (FVS) will again be used at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2026, following its implementation at the 2025 edition of the tournament.

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