The Socceroos could bow out.
But Australia will still be represented at the 2026 World Cup with a referee. Alireza Faghani led the dramatic Round of 16 clash between Mexico and England at Mexico City’s iconic Estadio Azteca, witnessing yellow cards, sending-offs, penalties and scores of goals as England raced to a 3-2 lead in the classic World Cup match of all time.
The Iranian-born Australian has been on FIFA’s list of international referees since 2008 and has been a regular at A-League matches since 2019, when he emigrated to Australia.
Faghani also managed the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where the 2026 FIFA World Cup final will also be played.
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The Australian referee handed the England star a yellow card and then a red card in the second half.
In the England-Mexico match, it didn’t take long for the Australian whistleblower to make his mark, issuing a yellow card to England’s Declan Rice in the first minute of the match – one of the fastest yellow cards in World Cup history.
The second half was even more dramatic when Faghani was left with no choice but to send off England international Jarel Quance in the 53rd minute after a reckless challenge sparked a touchline melee followed by VAR intervention.
Then, just moments later, Fagani awarded a penalty to England after Anthony Gordon was brought down by Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel. Harry Kane stepped up and confidently converted the penalty to give England a 3-1 lead despite going down in a tense Aztec cauldron.
Incredibly, within minutes Faghani was called to rule another a penalty on the advice of VAR, this time to Mexico following a foul by Harry Kane in the box.
Raul Jimenez made no mistake and the score returned to 3-2 with the Australian in the thick of things as the tournament hosts threw everything at England in the final half hour without success.
Faghani, 48, is one of four Australian officials in charge of matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The others are George Lakrindis (assistant referee), Andrew Lindsay (assistant referee) and Shaun Evans – the VAR official who was in the news earlier in the tournament.