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Alireza Faghani will take charge of a blockbuster World Cup round of 16 match against Mexico at Estadio Azteca on Sunday night.
The 48-year-old Australian official, who migrated from Iran in 2019 and has been refereeing under the Australian flag since 2023, is officiating his third World Cup this summer.
He took charge of four matches in Russia in 2018, most notably France’s 4-3 win over Argentina in the round of 16 and England’s defeat to Belgium in the third-place play-off. Faghani also officiated Mexico’s 1-0 win over Germany in that tournament.
Faghani was in charge of just two group stage matches at the last World Cup in Qatar but has already caused controversy this summer after deciding not to award France a penalty in the first game against Senegal despite a VAR review showing contact with Kylian Mbappe. He was also responsible for the goalless draw between Colombia and Portugal.
Alireza Faghani will lead England’s match against Mexico (Reuters)
Other career highlights include refereeing the 2016 Olympic men’s gold medal match and last year’s Club World Cup final between Chelsea and PSG. See the full refereeing team for the England v Mexico match below:
Who is the official for the England v Mexico match?
Judge: Alireza Faghani (Australia)
Assistant referees: George Lakrindis and Andrew Lindsay (both Australia)
Fourth judge: Jalal Jaed (Morocco)
Reserve assistant referee: Zakaria Brincy (Morocco)
Video assistant referee: Nicholas Gallo (Colombia)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: Juan Lara (Chile)
Assistant video assistant referee 2: Juan Soto (Venezuela)
What TV channel is this on?
The match between England and Mexico will be broadcast live. BBC one and can be streamed via BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
Coverage begins at midnight. The match starts at 13:00 (British Standard Time) on the morning of Monday, July 6th.