Pierluigi Collina

Pierluigi Collina published FIFA's officiating review of the 2026 World Cup on 30 June, itemising how new time-wasting rules were enforced across the 72 group-stage matches . He counted ten red cards in that period, six of them for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity, and answered complaints of bias on the record: unfounded allegations, he said, have no place in the sport.

Collina is FIFA's chief refereeing officer and took charge of the 2002 World Cup final, one of the most recognised officials the game has had.

His review covers the group stage only, published while the knockout rounds, including the officials who would take charge of the final itself, were still to come .