Iran refereeing team led by Alireza Faghani will get into the pitch for the third time during the 2018 FIFA World Cup as they officiate the third place play-off match between Belgium and England on Saturday.
On Thursday FIFA announced the name of referees to whistle the last two matches of the tournament, the final and the qualification game.
According to FIFA, the Argentinean whistler of the World Cup opening game between Russia and Saudi Arabia, Nestor Pitana will officiate the final game between France and Croatia on Sunday.
Pitana oversaw three group stage matches in the 2014 Brazil World Cup as well as one in quarterfinals. In the current cup he made four appearances including France’s quarter-final win over Uruguay and will make the fifth in the last and final game.
Faghani and his assistants Reza Sokhandan and Mohammadreza Mansouri will preside over the qualification game between Belgium and England that will decide the third and fourth places.
Despite Faghani’s first appearance as center referee in the World Cup, his performance was commended by the media as well as the referee rating platforms. Coverage of incidents, proper placing in the court and calling for VAR support less than other referees in the Russia games are mentioned as his winning aces.
The Iranian refereeing team started in the Russia World Cup with the Germany-Mexico game on June 17. Soon after Faghani received the highest point among all World Cup referees for his precise judgments on the pitch. For their second game, Faghani and his aides officiated the Argentina-France match on June 30.
Faghani attended the Brazil-Belgium game on June 6 as the fourth official. Serbian Milorad Mažić served as center referee in the quarterfinal clash.
With few referees still in Russia after the quarterfinals (in a list announced by FIFA), many Iranians expected to see Faghani and his team in the final game because they were not selected for any of the two semifinals.
However, officiating the third-place match is still considered an honor for Faghani, his lieutenants and the nation. The refereeing team has made Iranians proud once again after the national soccer team performed outstandingly in the group stage against Spain, Portugal and Morocco bowing out with four points.
