During the afternoon of this Tuesday, July 7, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) confirmed the referee’s appointment for the duel between France and Morocco, for the quarterfinals of the World Cup 2026and the decision quickly generated reactions among social media users for a detail unusual in the tournament.
The quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup will begin next Thursday, July 9, with the match between France and Morocco in the city of Boston, Massachusettsand the five members of the referee team will be Argentinesso that the World Cup added a new reason for controversy and debate on digital platforms.
The Argentine referee Facundo Tello will be in charge of dispensing justice in the duel, so it is still curious that a referee from Argentina will lead France in the quarterfinals, but that is what FIFA decided. In itself, many eyes were on the quintet arbitration, and this designation only fueled the digital controversy.
This 2026 World Cup has had several reasons for controversyfrom the red canceled to the American Folarin Balogun until the designation of some arbitration shortlists. Consequently, for the first match of the quarterfinals, the French already turned on the alarms and the decision did not go unnoticed on social networks.
France, outraged with FIFA
For the French sports media RMC Sport, ““FIFA is shameless” for appointing a completely Argentine arbitration team for the match between France and Morocco, despite the fact that Facundo Tello is a referee experienced and has done a good job together with his two assistants throughout the 2026 World Cup.
However, for RMC Sport, the most striking thing is that the fourth referee and the video assistant referee (VAR) will be Argentine, since FIFA has maintained the criterion of choosing referees of one nationality and the fourth referee and the person in charge of the VAR of another in the majority of World Cup games. Therefore, the claims and criticism has not been long in coming.
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“I will not focus on who will be the referee. We have not done it before and we are not going to do it now. We will focus on Morocco. We must not fall into the paranoia. If the referees are here, it is because they are up to the task,” he added. Dayot UpamecanoFrench footballer who plays as a defender for Bayern Munich, in the German Bundesliga.
Faced with this scenario, the referee team who will accompany Facundo Tello for the quarterfinal match between France and Morocco will be made up of his compatriots: Juan Pablo Belattias assistant; Gabriel Chadas second line judge; Dario Herreraas fourth referee, and Cristian Navarreseas fifth referee.
Rivalry between France and Argentina
The rivalry between both teams dates back to the round of 16 of the World Cup. Russia 2018when the France team, led by Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann and Benjamin Pavard, eliminated Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, Ángel Di María and Sergio Aguero, who had just lost the final against Germany in Brazil 2014.
Four years later, Argentina and France met again, this time in the World Cup final. Qatar 2022in which the team of Messi and Di María surpassed Mbappé’s team in the penalty shootout. It was one of the best finals in the history of the World Cup, so both teams hope to repeat it in this 2026.
The match officials for @FIFAWorldCup match 97 have been appointed. 🤝
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) July 7, 2026