Slavko Vincic to referee Argentina-Spain World Cup Final

Slovenian official Slavko Vincic has been appointed to take charge of the 2026 World Cup final between Argentina and Spain, FIFA announced on Thursday (July 16), handing the 46-year-old the biggest assignment of his officiating career.

Vincic will blow the whistle at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Monday (July 20) as the two sides battle for the title in front of a crowd expected to exceed 80,000. He will be assisted on the pitch by fellow Slovenians Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic, while Jordan's Adham Makhadmeh has been named fourth official and Qatar's Mohammad Alkalaf will serve as reserve assistant referee.

FIFA's head of refereeing, Pierluigi Collina, confirmed the appointment in a video shared by the governing body, praising the significance of the occasion for the Slovenian official.

Vincic earned his FIFA badge in 2010 and has spent a decade and a half officiating marquee fixtures across Europe and on the international stage. His club-level résumé includes the 2024 UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, along with the 2022 UEFA Europa League final between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers.

His World Cup journey began in Qatar in 2022, where he took charge of two matches. He has already overseen three fixtures at the 2026 tournament — Brazil against Morocco and Jordan against Algeria in the group stage, followed by Mexico's Round of 32 meeting with Ecuador. Monday's final will be his sixth World Cup appointment overall and his fourth of the current campaign, marking the high point of his career.

Vincic has previously overseen Argentina just once, during the 2022 Qatar World Cup group stage clash with Saudi Arabia, a match that ended in a 2-1 upset defeat and snapped Lionel Messi's side's 36-match unbeaten run. In that game, Vincic awarded Argentina a seventh-minute penalty after Leandro Paredes was fouled, which Messi converted to open the scoring. Six Saudi players were booked that day, with no Argentina player receiving a card.

His history with Spain runs deeper. He first took charge of a Spain fixture in 2017, a friendly against Colombia, before overseeing Spain's Euro 2020 group match against Sweden and their UEFA Nations League semi-final win over Italy in 2023. He has also twice refereed matches involving Lamine Yamal — Spain's 1-0 win over Italy at Euro 2024 and their 2-1 semi-final victory over France, the latter memorable for Yamal's long-range strike that announced his arrival on the big stage.

Monday's final will be just the second competitive World Cup meeting between Argentina and Spain, with the sides having met only once before, in 1966. Argentina, chasing a fourth world title, kick off against Spain, who are appearing in their second final after their 2010 triumph.