Meet the Referee for the England vs Argentina World Cup Semifinal!

The Big Match and Its Referee

Imagine a huge soccer tournament called the World Cup. England and Argentina are playing each other in the semifinal (the step just before the final). The person who will be the boss of the game — the referee — is named Ismail Elfath.

He is 44 years old. Fun fact: he has been the referee in two games where the famous player Lionel Messi won trophies (a trophy is a big prize for winning).

Important: Ismail Elfath will referee the semifinal between England and Argentina. This is a very big job!

What Games Has He Done in This Tournament?

Before this semifinal, Elfath was in charge of some other matches in the same World Cup:

• Japan vs Netherlands (early group game)
• Uruguay vs Spain (early group game)
• Norway vs Brazil (a round where only 16 teams were left, called last-16; Norway won, and Brazil had previously won the World Cup five times)

He also gave out:

• Six yellow cards (like warning tickets for not playing nicely)
• One straight red card (a card that sends a player off the field immediately) to Uruguay player Agustin Canobbio. Why? Because he did a high kick/challenge on Spain defender (a defending player) Pau Cubarsi.

After being sent off, Canobbio was angry. He went up to the referee and grabbed his shirt. That’s a big no-no.

When and Where to Watch

The game will be in Atlanta (a city in the USA) on Wednesday at 8:00 PM UK time (called BST). You can watch it live on a TV channel called BBC One.

The Referee Helpers

Elfath won’t be alone. He has a team:

• Assistant referees (side helpers): Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins, both from the USA.
• Fourth official (the backup ref): Maurizio Mariani from Italy.

Elfath’s History with Messi and Big Games

Ismail Elfath has some interesting past jobs:

• He was the fourth official (backup ref) when Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup final (the biggest game of all).
• He was the main referee when Messi won his first trophy for a team called Inter Miami. They won against Nashville SC in a penalty shootout (a kicking contest to decide a tie) in the 2023 Leagues Cup final.

His Life Story (Explained Simply)

• He has been a referee in a USA soccer league called MLS (Major League Soccer) since 2012.
• He was voted the best referee in that league twice (won MLS referee of the year).
• He was born in Morocco (a country in Africa). When he was 18, he moved to America after winning a special lucky draw (a US government-backed diversity visa lottery) that lets people move there.

Why Some Other Referees Can’t Do the Final

Now, a separate note: Two English referees, Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor, cannot be chosen to referee the World Cup final. Neither can an Argentine referee, Facundo Tello.

Why? Because of rules from FIFA (the big world soccer group) about conflict of interest (meaning you shouldn’t judge a game if you might accidentally favor your own side).

The rules work like this:

1. Referees cannot officiate matches involving their own country.
2. Because England and Argentina have a political rivalry (they don’t get along well, partly because of a fight called the Falklands conflict in 1982), referees from England and Argentina cannot referee games involving either nation.

So:

• English officials can’t do England or Argentina games.
• Argentine officials can’t do those games either.
• All three (Oliver, Taylor, Tello) are also not allowed to do the third-place play-off (a consolation game) because that game will definitely have either England or Argentina in it.
• The same rule kept Taylor from reffing the 2022 World Cup final (Argentina vs France).

Important: A referee from England or Argentina cannot take charge of a match with England or Argentina because of history and fairness rules.

Summary

Let’s recap the key points:

• Ismail Elfath, a 44-year-old Moroccan-American referee, will lead the England vs Argentina World Cup semifinal.
• He has handled several tournament games, shown cards, and even been near Messi’s wins.
• He’ll have American assistants and an Italian backup.
• The match is in Atlanta on Wednesday evening, shown on BBC One.
• Meanwhile, refs from England and Argentina are barred from final/playoff due to conflict rules.

FAQ

Q1: What is a red card?
A red card is a card the referee shows to send a player off the field immediately because they did something very bad.

Q2: Why can’t English referees officiate England’s games?
Because FIFA says referees shouldn’t judge their own country’s matches to keep things fair.

Q3: What is the World Cup semifinal?
It’s one of the last two games before the final; the winner goes to the final to try to become champion.

Q4: How did Elfath get to America?
He won a diversity visa lottery from the US government when he was 18, which let him move from Morocco.

Q5: What does an assistant referee do?
They help the main referee from the sidelines, like judging if a player is offside (too far forward) or if the ball went out.