General Assignments Discussion

World Cup Final Appointments since '82:

1982: Brazil
1986: Brazil
1990: Mexico (born in Uruguay)
1994: Hungary
1998: Morocco
2002: Italy
2006: Argentina
2010: England
2014: Italy
2018: Argentina
2022: Poland
2026: Slovenia

Also, all officiating the Champions League/European Cup Final increases your odds of getting the game if you're from UEFA.

Puhl and Marciniak are only UEFA referees who didn't have a CL Final prior to taking charge of the World Cup Final.

 

So Sampaio next time?

 

Sampaio is 44.

 

This is the first time a confederation has had the World Cup Final back to back since CONMEBOL in '82 and '86. So, I think you can pencil in CONMEBOL in 2030 (maybe...).

 

Makhadmeh with a Qatari VAR!

 

I'm an idiot. UEFA had it back-to-back in 2010 and 2014.

The last referee from outside UEFA and Argentina to have it was Beqola in '98.

 

Makhadmeh’s tournament has obvious parallels to Elfath’s four years ago, now to include 4O on the final. He’s 39. Seems like he’s setup for an exciting next four years. He probably going to be tested like he hasn’t been tested before.

 

Amazing call!!! You can claim your winnings

 

So of the referees who survived the cut, Faghani, Sampaio, Eskas, Marcinak, and Pinheiro are the ones who didn’t get used on the last 4 matches, right?

Seems especially odd to keep Marciniak, Sampaio, and Eskas until the end, as Marciniak didn’t work a single knockout game and Sampaio and Eskas haven’t worked since R32. Maybe saved for contingencies that didn’t end up happening?

 

I bet you Marciniak must be wondering why he was brought for 2 group stage games happening in June and be forced to stay behind ... for naught.

 

Wild guess.

 

I don’t get it, what am I missing? He’s one of the top UEFA referees, one of the most experienced, put in 3 good performances this tournament… there’s many referees who could have made about an equally good case for the final, but I don’t see how this is surprising or undeserved.

 

I’m wondering that also.

It’s a real head scratcher the way they’ve managed the last few rounds of games. Marciniak is the glaring missing piece but we also haven’t seen Sampaio in a while. I would’ve thought that if a top ref like Sampaio or Faghani wasn’t their first choice for the final, they could’ve found a semifinal or a quarterfinal for these officials. I don’t see the point of having elite benchwarmers you’re not going to use.

Granted that Tello, Turpin, and Oliver basically had to be pigeon-holed into QFs due to their nationalities. But at least find a R16 or something for Sampaio or Marciniak something. If Oliver was pigeon-holed into a QF did he really need the extra R16? Pinheiro and Elfath, also, I would say did not deserve their late stage appointments as much as these other referees that got left on the bench, some of whom were genuine candidates for the Final.

 

I think from ability and his general performance he is not on the bar of Collina, Elizondo, Webb, Rizzoli, Pitana, and Marciniak.

From a resume/CV standpoint, I think Marciniak clearly had the weakest resume and why many of us didn't tip him for the Final. You can also make the same case for Webb as well. I think Webb became a FIFA official in like 2005 and was doing the World Cup Final in 2010. It's just that he had the CL Final that year that made his resume not be as weak as Marciniak.

Marciniak went to one Euro tournament and one World Cup and didn't light the world on fire in either. He wasn't selected for Euro 2020. He didn't do much in the Champions League either. He was a relatively green official per se. But Collina saw something in him and liked him and pretty much selected him to do the Final before the tournament even started (it seems that way). And away he went.

For most of the guys I've mentioned above they were already considered the best official in the world prior to the appointment of the World Cup Final due to their past performances and assignments and the appointment really just confirmed it.

With Marciniak, the appointment was actually a starting point and jumping off point to where he became the best referee in the world.

At least Vincic has pelts on the wall.

Went to Euro 2020 and did a quarterfinal. Went to Euro 2024 and did a semi-final.

He went to Qatar in 2022 and did four matches and officiated a round of 16 match.

Plus, he has a Champions League Final under his belt.

He has the assignments and the experience, it's just that the experience isn't all that good from what we have seen.

 

I can't understand it either. There was only one possible UEFA option for the final amongst the remaining referees and that was Vincic. The "surprise" seems to be because of some people's personal views of certain referees rather than looking at things objectively. To think 20% predicted Eskås is complete insanity. He was a possible name for 4O on the bronze medal game, but too much competition even for that role. Staring blindly at "he got only 2 assignments so his route must be like Marciniak 2022" is one of the most baffling thing I've seen here as a long time lurker.

One can argue it's a surprise to see another European on the final, but we know Argentina are generally happy to have top European referees and won't complain about confederation neutrality being broken.

Excellent assignments in these last stages, obviously though things could have been different with France and/or England out.

 

I generally agree with what you're saying. Vincic isn't even the last experience UEFA ref from the last two World Cup Finals at the time of appointing. Obviously, Marciniak's standing grew immensely since that point, in no small part thanks to his legendary performance in the Final itself.

I actually think Vincic is a quite good ref. I don't get the criticism. Obviously, he's had some missteps, as has any ref who has been around for so long, but he's generally been a reliable referee for the toughest UEFA Champions League matches year after year.

I do have to correct you on one thing: Vincic's 2022 World Cup was only two matches, both in the group stage.

 

And what’s all that based on? I mean, even the idea that Vincic only got his start because of Ceferin. Are there definitive sources on that, or is it just a hypothesis that’s become accepted as canon within the zeitgeist? This feud between Collina and Ceferin - is that something that is based on fact, or on rumor?

Personally, I think most of this is just guesswork based on working backwards from assignments or other information that becomes publicly available, and none of us really know what goes on behind the scenes.

 

I’m glad you guys don’t bet on this stuff.

 

I still believe it's naive to treat that appointment as a precedent and a new standard for final appointments - especially in an expanded World Cup with 40 additional games compared to previous iterations. With that many games FIFA would really have to feel a need to shield and protect a referee, to give him a final after a mere two games in the tournament. I highly doubt we'll see an appointment like that in the near or distant future.

And if it happens it'll be for a more experienced and well merited referee who also didn't get involved in any controversy at all in the tournament - which, although unfairly, you can't say about Eskås given the situation in POR-CRO. Sadly, and perhaps influenced by the NOR-ENG controversy, people still raise conspiracy concerns with the outcome of that game (despite double evidence in form of snickometer and good replay angle).

In addition to political influence on appointments, media attention and public opinion should be considered as well.

Lastly, 4O appointments are a clear sign that you're done for the tournament. People doubted that precursor when Makkelie got an early 4O role, but ultimately no 4O in the knockouts got another game as CR.

 

I’d LOVE to know the thought process behind this, especially Marciniak. If he wasn’t injured (and just couldn’t get fit enough to work) or wasn’t doing job shadowing with Collina, then why did he stick around?

Given who else was around with track records either from past events and performance in this event, Vincic shocked me as well. I might not be quite as low in my rating as MassRef, but I have a lot of similar feelings about Vincic as I do Ramos. He’s just never left me with a “man, he crushed that game” feeling that I would expect to have at least a few times with a referee working a World Cup final.

I get locked in on paper guys like Turpin and Oliver couldn’t work because of neutrality, but it feels like there were better options available.