CORNERFLICK
Fifa has given the 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina to Slavko Vinčić, the 46-year-old Slovenian official with a long record in major European matches.
The appointment makes Vinčić the first referee from Slovenia to take charge of football’s biggest game. His CV includes matches at the 2022 and 2026 World Cups, Euro 2021 and Euro 2024, plus the 2024 Champions League final and the 2022 Europa League final.
Vinčić also oversaw Argentina’s opening game at the 2022 World Cup, a 2-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia in one of the tournament’s biggest shocks. He showed six yellow cards in that match, all to Saudi players.
His recent Champions League work has not been without controversy. He sent off Eduardo Camavinga in Bayern Munich’s quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid last season for a second booking, with the decision to punish time-wasting drawing heavy criticism in Spain.
Barcelona also took issue with his handling of their 2022-23 tie against Inter, when they believed a Pedri goal should have stood and a penalty should have been awarded. The club considered lodging a formal complaint to Uefa, but none was filed.
Vinčić was also detained in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2020 during a police operation, before being cleared of any wrongdoing after questioning as a witness.