{"id":57560,"date":"2026-07-19T14:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T14:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/57560\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T14:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T14:01:08","slug":"who-is-slavko-vincic-the-referee-for-spain-vs-argentina-in-world-cup-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/57560\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Slavko Vincic, the referee for Spain vs. Argentina in World Cup final?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Slovenian official Slavko Vincic is the referee for Sunday\u2019s FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>The 46-year-old from Maribor \u2014 who officiated the 2024 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund \u2014 is the first person from his country to take charge of the world\u2019s biggest football fixture.<\/p>\n<p>He will be assisted by Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic, both also from Slovenia, while German Bastian Dankert will be the VAR. Dankert will be assisted by Nicolas Gallo from Colombia.<\/p>\n<p>Vincic was in tears when he was given the news of his appointment\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7375238\/2026\/06\/20\/a-day-at-world-cup-referee-training-chants-var-feedback-and-dissecting-the-mbappe-penalty-call\/\" data-index=\"25\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">at FIFA\u2019s referee team base in Miami<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, first of all, a shock. Then happiness. I was shaking, so it\u2019s an incredible honour to get the World Cup final,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that \u2026 it\u2019s only a dream for a referee, for a young referee when they start. So, I\u2019m very proud, very proud of myself, my team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to put everything into words, but I\u2019m very proud to represent my country, Slovenia, in the biggest sporting event in the world,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m very proud. My team is very proud and we will do our best.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"ro\" dir=\"ltr\">Introducing your referee for the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FIFAWorldCup?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@FIFAWorldCup<\/a> 2026 Final\u2026.\ud83e\udd41<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations, Slavko Vin\u010di\u0107! \ud83d\udc4f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OMLJ3oA31p\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/OMLJ3oA31p<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 FIFA (@FIFAcom) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FIFAcom\/status\/2077949989670572484?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>What is his experience?<\/p>\n<p>Sunday\u2019s game at Metlife Stadium will be Vincic\u2019s first Argentina match since overseeing their shock 2-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia in the opening round of the 2022 World Cup\u2019s group stage.<\/p>\n<p>He has officiated Spain three times, all victories at the European Championship finals, including their semi-final win against France in 2024 before they went on to win the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Vincic is appearing at his second World Cup and fourth major national-team tournament, while he has significant experience in European club football. He was also in charge of the 2021-22 Europa League final between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers.<\/p>\n<p>In last season\u2019s Champions League quarter-finals, Vincic sent off Real Madrid\u2019s Eduardo Camavinga for a second yellow card offence in the 86th minute of their second leg at Bayern Munich, when the tie was 4-4 on aggregate, before the German side scored two late goals to progress. The midfielder was deemed to have delayed a restart by throwing the ball away. He also dismissed Madrid\u2019s Arda Guler, who got two bookings for dissent at the end.<\/p>\n<p>Vincic was in charge for England\u2019s 3-0 group-stage defeat of Wales at the 2022 finals.<\/p>\n<p>How has he fared at this tournament?<\/p>\n<p>Sunday\u2019s final will be his fourth game of the tournament \u2014 and a sixth World Cup match overall \u2014 and first since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7411623\/2026\/07\/01\/piero-hincapie-red-card-world-cup-ecuador\/\" data-index=\"24\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he dismissed Ecuador\u2019s Piero Hincapie for covering his mouth<\/a>\u00a0while confronting Mexico\u2019s Santiago Gimenez in the round of 32.<\/p>\n<p>He also took charge of the group-stage meetings at this edition between Brazil and Morocco, and Jordan and Algeria.<\/p>\n<p>Why Vincic appointment is unusual<\/p>\n<p>Refereeing expert Graham Scott<\/p>\n<p>The appointment of Slavko Vincic came as something of a surprise, given the historical Fifa policy of selecting officials from a different continent to the two finalists.<\/p>\n<p>But the Slovenian is held in the highest esteem by FIFA head of referees Pierluigi Collina, and it is clear the former Italian ref gets his own way, whatever the politics.<\/p>\n<p>It was not supposed to be Europe\u2019s turn, as Szymon Marciniak of Poland had the honour last time. And a Europe vs. South America final would normally have demanded an Asian, African or North American referee.<\/p>\n<p>Vincic is cut in similar cloth to Collina in style, if not visually, in that he is tough and takes no nonsense. There were nine yellow cards when he refereed Argentinian side River Plate against Monterrey of Mexico at FIFA\u2019s Club World Cup last year.<\/p>\n<p>He refereed Real Madrid twice in the UEFA Champions League last season, with the Spaniards winning one and losing the other.<\/p>\n<p>At this tournament he has kept a low profile despite awarding 30 free kicks when Brazil met Morocco, and has not featured since the round of 32 when he oversaw Mexico\u2019s win over Ecuador. In that match, he sent Hincapie off.<\/p>\n<p>I would expect him to keep things tight early on, so anticipate a high foul count in the first half. Barring a situation in which he has no choice, yellow cards will wait for at least the first quarter, but that of course is also in the gift of the players.<\/p>\n<p>Spare a thought for Iranian official Alireza Faghani, 48, whose international career closes without him receiving the prize he arguably deserved after becoming the first ref to appear at four World Cups.<\/p>\n<p>He was tipped for the final in 2018, 2022 and this time, but key errors have cost him. He may well have been selected had he awarded Kylian Mbappe the penalty he deserved in the France vs. Senegal match, and then not needed VAR to identify an offence when England\u2019s Jarell Quansah was guilty of serious foul play against Mexico.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Slovenian official Slavko Vincic is the referee for Sunday\u2019s FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7579,4027,1376,11350,2881,19216,751,3937,2266,389,19215,9154,19214,15384,99,2265,2383,5852,556,865,9507,19076,5853,31,200,16928,1066,19213,19211,2264,2938,9508,11024,1727,4240,1726,5280,1437,2217,9506,1743,6110,2192,17,9873,3448,12048,2251,3691,6530,19212],"class_list":["post-57560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-algeria","tag-argentina","tag-australia","tag-austria","tag-belgium","tag-bosnia-herzegovina","tag-brazil","tag-canada","tag-cape-verde","tag-colombia","tag-congo-dr","tag-croatia","tag-curacao","tag-czech-republic","tag-ecuador","tag-egypt","tag-england","tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","tag-france","tag-germany","tag-ghana","tag-haiti","tag-international-football","tag-iran","tag-iraq","tag-ivory-coast","tag-japan","tag-jordan","tag-mexico-mens-national-team","tag-morocco","tag-netherlands","tag-new-zealand","tag-norway","tag-panama","tag-paraguay","tag-portugal","tag-qatar","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-scotland","tag-senegal","tag-soccer","tag-south-africa","tag-south-korea","tag-spain","tag-sweden","tag-switzerland","tag-tunisia","tag-turkey","tag-uruguay","tag-us-mens-national-team","tag-uzbekistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}