The FIFA Referees Committee has announced the match officials who will take charge of fixtures at this year’s FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2026™, which will be contested from 19 November to 13 December. A total of 81 match officials, comprising 27 referees and 54 assistant referees from 36 FIFA Member Associations, have been selected to oversee matches during the competition. The appointments include two all-female refereeing trios, comprising six officials in total, underlining FIFA’s continued commitment to providing leading female match officials with opportunities to perform at the highest level of international football.

The tournament will bring together 48 teams and feature 104 matches, with all games to be played in the Aspire Zone, and the final at Khalifa International Stadium – a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ stadium. It will be the second edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup™ to be staged annually in Qatar as part of the country’s five-year hosting cycle. “Last year’s tournament presented a refereeing operation of significant scale and complexity, and the quality and consistency demonstrated by the match officials were extremely high. For this year’s edition, we have again brought together some of the most promising officials from every confederation. They have been selected not only for their performances, but also for their ability to work as part of an international team and meet the demands of a major FIFA tournament,” said FIFA Chief Refereeing Officer and Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina. “The 2025 edition of this tournament demonstrated the value of giving talented match officials the opportunity to develop in a demanding international environment. We saw them grow in confidence and experience throughout the competition, and several have since taken important steps in their careers. This year’s officials have been selected with the same long-term objective; to prepare the next generation to perform at the highest level of the game,” commented FIFA Director of Refereeing Massimo Busacca. During the tournament, the match officials will be supported by a professional FIFA team of refereeing instructors, medical and physiotherapy expertise, fitness coaches and additional refereeing specialists in video technology and organisation. Football Video Support (FVS) will again be used at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2026™, following its implementation at the 2025 edition of the tournament. Unlike the video assistant referee (VAR) system, FVS does not involve dedicated video match officials and therefore does not automatically check every potentially match-changing incident. Instead, each head coach is permitted a limited number of review requests during a match if they believe a clear and obvious error may have occurred in relation to a goal, penalty decision, direct-red-card incident or case of mistaken identity. Players may also recommend that their coach request a review. More information about FVS can be found on fifa.com. The Match Schedule for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2026™ is available to view here.