CORNERFLICK
Anthony Taylor will referee Portugal's last-16 meeting with Spain at the 2026 World Cup on Monday.
The 47-year-old English official has already overseen two matches at the tournament: Uzbekistan's 3-1 defeat by Colombia and Senegal's 5-0 win over Iraq. Those games produced five yellow cards and one red.
Taylor, a FIFA international since 2013 and a Premier League referee since 2010, is at his second World Cup. He also officiated at the 2022 tournament and at Euro 2024.
This will be his fifth match involving Spain and Portugal. Taylor's record with Spain stands at three wins and two defeats. He took charge of Spain's 2-1 loss to France in the Nations League final, a game that also featured a disputed Kylian Mbappé effort ruled offside. He was also in the middle for Spain's Euro 2024 quarter-final against Germany, when a penalty was not given after a handball incident involving Marc Cucurella.
Taylor has refereed Portugal four times before, starting with their 2-1 defeat by Ukraine in Euro 2020 qualifying. He also handled their 2-4 loss to Germany at Euro 2020, their 2-0 win over North Macedonia in World Cup qualifying in 2022, and their 5-0 win over Armenia in 2025.