Who is Ismail Elfath? U.S. referee faces huge spotlight in England vs Argentina clash

The American Ismail Elfath, who was even in contention to officiate next Sunday’s grand final, will be the referee for England-Argentina on Wednesday, the second World Cup semifinal that will be much more than a football match. His compatriots Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins will be his assistants, and Italian Maurizio Mariani will serve as fourth official, as announced by FIFA.

Elfath will officiate his fourth World Cup match. Among others, he refereed Uruguay-Spain, in which he ended up sending off Canobbio after a match heavily marked by the roughness of the Uruguayans. In addition, he was the main referee in the Netherlands-Japan group-stage match and in the Brazil-Norway round-of-16 match. As a reward, an England-Argentina clash in which sparks will fly...

The American was already the fourth official in the last World Cup final, the one in 2022 in Qatar, that Argentina-France match that will forever be part of World Cup history and that marked Leo Messi’s definitive rise to the heavens.

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