Argentina are set to make their 2026 World Cup debut, facing Algeria. As the latest World Cup winners, they are favorite to win the trophy, but they may need to overcome Vladimir Petkovic’s team. Szymon Marciniak will be in charge of officiating the encounter. After securing the historic victory at the 2022 World Cup, Argentina are preparing to make their debut in the 2026 edition against Algeria. As the reigning champions, they arrive as the clear favorites to claim the victory, but Vladimir Petković’s team could pose several challenges. For the 23rd edition of the tournament, fans are eager to know who will be the referee for the match at Arrowhead Stadium, officially known as Kansas City Stadium. Szymon Marciniak will be the referee in charge of officiating Lionel Messi’s team’s debut at the 2026 World Cup. After receiving his FIFA badge in 2011, the Polish referee will be working his third edition of the tournament, where he has earned significant recognition. His last participation in the competition was the final of the 2022 edition, where he awarded three penalties and showed yellow cards to eight players, coming through with little controversy. Accompanying Marciniak, FIFA has appointed Tomasz Listkiewicz of Poland as the first assistant referee and Adam Kupsik of Poland as the second assistant referee. Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh of New Zealand has been assigned as the fourth official. As the reserve assistant referee, Isaac Trevis of New Zealand has been selected. With them, Argentina and Algeria will make their debut at the 2026 World Cup. Szymon Marciniak has had an impeccable refereeing career Szymon Marciniak has built an outstanding career as a FIFA referee. In 2014, he made his debut in the UEFA Champions League and later officiated the UEFA Under-21 European Championship final in 2015. By remaining largely free of controversy, FIFA appointed him to officiate at the 2018 World Cup, where he earned positive reviews that eventually led to him refereeing the 2022 final between Argentina and France. Marcus Thuram of France is shown a yellow card by referee Szymon Marciniak. Not only did he officiate the most recent World Cup final in 2022, but he has also taken charge of the UEFA Champions League final. In 2023, he was selected to referee the final between Manchester City and Inter Milan, managing the match with few mistakes. Because of this, he has been selected as the best referee of the world by IFFHS in 2022 and 2023, denoting his huge professionalism. With Marciniak on the field, the Argentina-Algeria match’s protagonism is expected to be centered on the players’ performances rather than his decisions. Moreover, he is known for letting play flow and being more strict with fouls, while also being willing to show numerous yellow cards if needed. Unlike many referees, he has developed a perfect method to balance VAR and his own decisions, being acknowledged for his game management.
Former USMNT players have disparaged AustraliaAustralia and US face each other on FridayFormer US players, perhaps caught up in the swell of confidence brought about by the team’s 4-1 romp over Paraguay in their World Cup opener, have fired barbs at Australia, their next opponents. The Socceroos have fired back. And current US players are having none of it.“All this talk is just nonsense to me,” US winger Tim Weah told the media on Tuesday, seconds after rolling his eyes and giving an incredulous look when told about comments from US pundits describing Friday’s match as a “layup”, or that the Australian team itself is “average”. Continue reading...
Haji Wright's lack of international minutes in the build up to and at the World Cup is "baffling", says BBC Radio CWR's Rob Gurney. The United States international featured 40 times for Frank Lampard's Championship-winning side in 2025-26, scoring 17 goals and contributing one assist. "Haji Wright didn't get a single minute in the United States v Paraguay game," Gurney said.
From Zagreb to Wembley and Moscow, the Croatia great has derailed the Three Lions on many occasions. Now he’s ready for one last dance in DallasWhen Luka Modric first played against England, Tony Blair was still in office. Arsenal had just moved from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium, Italy were newly crowned world champions and Pep Guardiola retired as a player after a six-month spell in Mexico with Dorados. Twitter was less than three months old and Facebook had been made fully public earlier that year. Amy Winehouse’s album Back to Black was about to be released, while the much-hyped film Borat was coming to cinemas.Football fans in England – and in Croatia – may recognise which game it was solely from that last bit of pop culture history: the European Championship qualifier in Zagreb on 11 October 2006. Continue reading...
A Liverpool fan and an influencer explain what it’s like to be hired for a Truman Show-style experimentWhen Kevin Kotoko heard that he had been selected as one of Fox’s chief World Cup watchers he had no hesitation in accepting. What self-respecting football fan could turn down the opportunity to be paid $50,000 (£37,000) to take in all 104 games at this World Cup, after all?The only issues were that he would have to watch every match in a custom-built viewing cube in the heart of Times Square and let his employers know that he wouldn’t be coming in for work the next day. “I quit my job,” admits Kevin Akoto, a Liverpool fan who is from Florida and was working as a waiter in a restaurant. “I found out on Thursday that I had won the competition and so I told them on Friday that would be my last day!” Continue reading...
Fifa president sets gruelling itinerary across tournamentWorld Cup to generate about 9m tons of carbon dioxideGianni Infantino is planning to attend two World Cup games each day where possible for the rest of the tournament despite the huge distances involved.The Fifa president has access to a private jet provided by Qatar Airways as a value-in-kind element of its sponsorship deal with the world governing body, which will come in useful as Infantino journeys across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Continue reading...
Evans had been accused of white supremacist gesture‘The movement was an involuntary,’ says officialFifa’s disciplinary committee has cleared the World Cup video assistant referee Shaun Evans after he was accused of making a hand gesture associated with white supremacists.An investigation found no evidence that the Australian had breached Fifa’s ethics code and he issued a statement on Monday night claiming he had been unaware of making the controversial hand sign. Continue reading...
Martin joins Leicester after relegation to League OneEx-Gil Vicente coach Peixoto replaces Rob EdwardsLeicester have confirmed Russell Martin’s appointment as manager, on the same day as Wolves unveiled César Peixoto as head coach, replacing Rob Edwards.The two Midlands clubs were relegated from the Championship and the Premier League respectively last season and have moved quickly to restructure their setup, with Martin joining Leicester eight months after his nightmare 123-day stint in charge of Rangers came to an end. Continue reading...
Keeper named player of the match against Euro winners‘I have worked my whole life for this moment,’ he saysVozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who was named player of the match after making seven saves in his side’s 0-0 draw against Spain, was in tears at full time. The mother of Cape Verde’s World Cup hero was not there to see history made because she could not afford the visa to the US.The goalkeeper described the game as the moment he had been working towards his “entire life” and said he wished he could have shared the moment with his late grandparents and his mother. Continue reading...
Wow, just wow. At 1.57pm Atlanta time, 3,291 miles from home, the final whistle went on Cape Verde’s first game in a World Cup finals tournament – and they had only gone and done it.What they had done was madness: a tiny nation, a debutant, had held one of the favourites, Spain, the European champions, to a 0-0 draw. Bubista, the coach who had led them here, had said he wanted the world to see who and what they are – and, boy, did they see. Qualification, he had insisted, was more than football, it was music, it was culture, it was everything. So what was this? This was wonderful. What a moment and what a noise greeted the moment when the impossible had become real. Continue reading...
Move comes after thrashing in opening game in MexicoTunisia still to face Japan and Netherlands in Group FTunisia sacked their head coach, Sabri Lamouchi, on Monday after a 5-1 defeat by Sweden in their first World Cup game. The Tunisian football federation announced his dismissal on its Instagram account.“An agreement has been officially reached to dismiss coach Sabri Lamouchi,” the statement said. “Plans are under way to appoint Mondher Kebaier as the national team coach [on an interim basis].” Continue reading...
Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!A broken leg, surgery, working for David Sullivan, being sacked by David Sullivan, to say things had looked bleak for Sweden’s main men during the Premier League season is an understatement. Alexander Isak and Graham Potter were at a low ebb; the former failed to live up to his record-breaking £125m move to Liverpool, unable to find fitness nor form, ending the campaign with a pitiful four goals in 22 games having never got going at Anfield. Potter was churned out by West Ham in September, deemed unfit to lead the team forward, a low moment for anyone at the London Stadium. In fairness, the team was doomed regardless and while he is leading a team to a 5-1 thrashing of Tunisia at the Geopolitics World Cup, the Hammers are planning for life in the Championship and Sullivan is no longer co-chair.Poor Haiti tried everything to change their destiny against Scotland over the weekend, even swapping Providence for Fortuné in the 86th minute” – Sholem Lenkiewicz.Margaritha coming on for a Curaçao led by D1ck Advocaat is definitely the most alcoholic GWC moment so far. Meanwhile, following on from the idea that Football Daily does not do weekends (yesterday’s Football Daily letters), yesterday’s edition ended in my junk folder” – Nigel Sanders [and balance is restored – Football Daily Ed].This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...
