FIFA has named an all-Argentine panel of match officials, led by Facundo Tello, to oversee the first quarter-final clash of the 2026 World Cup between two-time champions France and Morocco. It appears that FIFA has again gone with experience in naming Tello as the referee for the match slated to be played on July 9 (July 10 in India) in Boston.
Incidentally, Tello also officiated Morocco’s quarter-final match against Portugal during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which the Atlas Lions won.
Tello will be assisted by Juan Pablo Belatti, Gabriel Chade, with Dario Herrera to serve as fourth official. Cristian Navarro has been named as the reserve assistant referee.
Fans on social media aren’t happy with the appointment, though.
The match officials for
@FIFAWorldCup match 97 have been appointed. 🤝
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) July 7, 2026
All Argentina referees for a france match, FIFA trying everything to rig the World Cup for Argentina once again
— DrewS🇫🇷🇵🇹 (@XnzyDrewS) July 7, 2026
FIFA doesnt hide it anymore 😂😂😂😂 All Argentinian why dont you bring Messi to check the VAR too
— Elin Ghadimian (@elin_ghadimian) July 7, 2026
Need a new sport to watch, this isn’t hitting the same anymore
— Qrazee (@xQrazee) July 7, 2026
France Not Focusing On Referees
French defender Dayot Upamecano said they aren’t concerned about who will be refereeing their match.
“I’m not going to focus on who the referee will be,” Upamecano told L’Equipe. “We’ve never done that before. We’re going to focus on Morocco. What we want is to win this match. That’s the most important thing.”
The development comes amidst Egypt expressing their displeasure at the decisions that went against them during their pre-quarter-finals defeat to Argentina on Tuesday. A report claims that their football association has approached FIFA demanding an investigation into the decisions, which they claim proved pivotal in their elimination from the World Cup.
Defending champions Argentina were trailing 0-2 before launching a remarkable comeback to win 3-2 and keep their hopes of retaining the title alive. They will next face Switzerland.
