As the tournament enters its final four matches, FIFA has made its second—and final—selection of VAR referees. Following the first round of cuts after the Round of 16, as previously reported by Mundo Deportivo (MD), six VAR officials were sent home.
A total of 18 VAR officials remain and will stay on duty for the two semifinals, the third-place match, and the final.
Among those retained is French VAR referee Jérôme Brisard, who came under scrutiny for his performance in the Argentina – Egypt match. Despite the criticism, FIFA appointed him alongside Clément Turpin for the Norway – England match, where Brisard correctly advised the on-field referee to overturn a penalty that had been wrongly awarded during extra time.
Also among the selected officials is Spain's Carlos del Cerro, who could be appointed for the other semifinal between Argentina and England.
Tatiana Guzmán Remains the Only Female VAR Official
Whether Del Cerro is assigned to the third-place match or the final will depend on Spain's performance in tomorrow's semifinal against France.
Nicaraguan official Tatiana Guzmán also remains among the selected VAR referees and is the only woman who will continue working in the Video Operation Room (VOR).
UEFA has the largest number of remaining representatives. In addition to Spain's Del Cerro and France's Brisard, the confederation is represented by Croatia's Ivan Bebek, Germany's Bastian Dankert, Italy's Marco Di Bello, England's Jarred Gillet, the Netherlands' Dennis Higler, and Poland's Tomasz Kwiatkowski.
From the other confederations, the remaining officials include Qatar's Khamis Al Marri, Americans Joe Dickerson and Armando Villareal, Mexico's Guillermo Pacheco, Colombia's Nicolás Gallo, Uruguay's Leodan González, Chile's Juan Lara, Argentina's Hernán Mastrángelo, and Venezuela's Juan Soto, in addition to Nicaragua's Tatiana Guzmán.
