18JUL

Slavko Vincic to referee the final

1 min read

13:09UTC

Slovenia's Slavko Vincic has been appointed referee for Sunday's Spain-Argentina final, with two Slovenian assistants and Jordan's Adham Makhadmeh as fourth official.

← Back to England fight on two fronts before bronze Jump to analysis ↓

SportDeveloping

Key takeaway

Slavko Vincic will referee Sunday's Spain-Argentina final, a neutral appointment made without controversy.

Slavko Vincic of Slovenia has been appointed to referee Sunday's final between Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium, with two Slovenian assistants and Jordan's Adham Makhadmeh as fourth official ¹. The appointment hands the final a neutral crew from a country with neither side in the draw. Spain reached the final by beating France 2-0 , and Argentina arrive as defending champions.

FIFA routinely gives a World Cup final a crew from outside both finalists' confederations, and Vincic's selection passed without the controversy that has trailed its disciplinary decisions this tournament. His task on Sunday is to manage a fixture that, unlike the semi-finals, carries no active political dispute between the teams on the pitch.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Slovenia's Slavko Vincic will referee Sunday's final between Spain and Argentina, with two fellow Slovenian officials as his assistants and Jordan's Adham Makhadmeh as the fourth official, the match official who manages substitutions and the technical areas from the touchline.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

FIFA selects final-match officials from its elite referee panel using performance ratings built up across the tournament's earlier rounds rather than reputation or league of origin, which is the mechanism behind Vincic's appointment over higher-profile alternatives from Europe's top leagues.

Sources:Multiple outlets

Mentions:Spain →Argentina →Poland →France →FIFA →Jordan →World Cup →MetLife Stadium →

First Reported In

Update #42 · England fight on two fronts before bronze

Multiple outlets· 18 Jul 2026

Read original →

Causes and effects

Caused by

Oyarzabal and Porro send Spain to final

Spain's run to the final set up the fixture Vincic will referee.

Occurred 14 Jul 2026

Read story →

This Event

Slavko Vincic to referee the final

A neutral Slovenian crew takes charge of a final between two sides with no shared refereeing history, a low-key appointment after a tournament of disciplinary rows.

Different Perspectives

Spain

Spain now has their final opponent, referee, and match officials confirmed, with Slovenia's Slavko Vincic appointed to take charge of Sunday's game against Argentina. Their preparation is untouched by the disciplinary questions surrounding the other semi-finalists.

Falkland Islands Government Office

The Falkland Islands Government Office in London urged FIFA to 'sanction all behaviour of this nature', pressing its case as the population whose sovereignty status is being argued over by two national governments through a football tournament. Lowdown takes no position on the sovereignty question and reports it as a bilateral dispute.

FIFA

FIFA's Disciplinary Committee opened a review of the Malvinas banner rather than issuing an immediate sanction, saying only that it is considering the circumstances, while staying silent on whether it will act on the Bellingham footage at all. It heads into Sunday's final still needing to resolve both questions on its own uneven enforcement record.

England and the UK Government

Downing Street and Business Secretary Peter Kyle pressed FIFA over the banner, Kyle calling it an 'egregious violation', while the Football Association itself lodged no complaint and now watches to see whether Bellingham is charged over the Barco footage before tonight's bronze match. A weakened, further depleted squad plays the third-place game with Reece James and Jordan Henderson both out.

Argentina

Argentina's federation now faces a FIFA review over the Malvinas banner its supporters displayed after Wednesday's semi-final win, with the 2014 fine the only precedent for what follows. The tournament's individual prize race has turned in their favour too, Messi's four assists putting him ahead of Mbappe with two matches left to play.

France

France's tournament ended at the semi-final stage for the first time since 2010, beaten 2-0 by Spain in Arlington, and Kylian Mbappe's Golden Boot chances are reduced to Saturday's third-place game alone. The 2022 runners-up now play for bronze rather than a second straight final.