2026 World Cup referee Slavko Vincic announces retirement

JAKARTA - The referee of the 2026 World Cup final, Slavko Vincic, has retired just a week after the tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico ended.

The Slovenian referee received widespread criticism for allowing the Argentine's physical approach when they were defeated 0-1 by Spain in extra time. Vincic sent off the Tango Team midfielder, Enzo Fernandez, at the end of normal time.

"A week after the 2026 World Cup final, Slavko Vincic officially ended his historic refereeing career at the top of the world," said a statement from the Slovenian Football Association (NZS).

Vincic, 46, was named the best referee of the 2026 World Cup by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) and the Italian Referees Association (AIA), which awards the Giulio Campanati Award every two years to the best referee at every World Cup or Euro.

As a member of UEFA's elite referee group since 2019, Vincic has officiated matches at Euro 2020 and the 2024 semi-final between Spain vs Italy.

He presided over four matches at the 2026 World Cup, including the opening Group C match between Brazil and Morocco and Mexico's 2-0 win over Ecuador in the last 16 - when he sent off Ecuador defender Piero Hincapie for covering his mouth while talking to a Mexican player under new rules introduced ahead of the tournament.

At club level, Vincic presided over the 2024 Champions League final, when Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 to win the tournament for the 15th time.

He also presided over the 2022 Europa League final, when Rangers were beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt, and was the fourth referee the previous year when Manchester United lost to Villarreal on penalties.

In 2025, he was selected to referee the Turkish Super League (Super Lig) match between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce. He became the first foreign referee to lead the match, following a request from both teams.