The list of referees appointed to officiate the 2025 Club World Cup matches lacked any Saudi football referees. Meanwhile, Arab countries represented a significant presence, with seven countries representing the region. Qatar led the way with four referees, followed by Algeria with three, the UAE with two, and one referee each from Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Mauritania.

The FIFA Referees Board announced the names of the referees who will officiate the matches of the historic first edition of the 2025 Club World Cup™, which will be held in the United States from June 14 to July 13 in 12 stadiums across 11 host cities.

A total of 117 referees will officiate the matches, including 35 referees, 58 assistant referees, and 24 video assistant referees (VAR), representing 41 national associations from around the world.

Pierluigi Collina, Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, commented on the appointment of the First Team, saying that participating in this tournament will be a privilege for the selected referees. He said: “As with every new tournament, the selected referees are among the lucky few who have the privilege of participating in its first edition, and I am certain that all the referees will be extremely excited.” He added: “We are coming from the high-level performances we have achieved in recent FIFA tournaments, which raises expectations. As the bar is raised, it becomes more difficult to maintain the same level. However, we are working hard, and I am confident that the First Team will make a strong contribution to the success of this exciting tournament.”

In line with the recent amendments to the Laws of the Game approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), FIFA will implement a new rule aimed at reducing time-wasting by goalkeepers. If the goalkeeper retains possession of the ball for more than eight seconds (with the referee performing a visual countdown of five seconds), a corner kick will be awarded to the opposing team, instead of the current indirect free kick awarded when the goalkeeper exceeds six seconds. Additionally, with the support of the FIFA Council, the use of body cameras worn by referees will be tested, as part of an effort to test their potential for future use and establish quality and safety standards. These cameras will be used on a trial basis during the Club World Cup matches, and live broadcasts from these cameras will be broadcast to fans around the world on DAZN, the exclusive global broadcaster of the 2025 edition of the tournament.

Here is the list of referees selected by FIFA to officiate the 2025 Club World Cup matches:

The main referees on the list are: Ramon Abate (Brazil), Omar Al Ali (UAE), Ivan Barton (El Salvador), Dahane Beda (Mauritania), Juan Gabriel Benítez (Paraguay), Espen Eskas (Norway), Alireza Faghani (Australia), Salman Falah (Qatar), Yael Falcon Perez (Argentina), Drew Fisher (Canada), Christian Garay (Chile), Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria), Mutaz Ibrahim (Libya), Campbell Kirk Kawana-Woche (New Zealand), Istvan Kovacs (Romania), François Latxier (France), Ma Ning (China), Danny Makelele (New Caledonia), Szymon Marciniak (Poland), Saïd Martinez (Honduras), Jean-Jacques Ndala (Congo), Glenn Nyberg (Sweden), Michael Oliver (England), Tori Penrose (New Zealand), César Ramos (Mexico), Wilton Sampaio (Brazil), Ismail Stira (Uzbekistan), Ilgiz Taktashev (Uzbekistan), Anthony Taylor (England), Gustavo Tejera (Uruguay), Facundo Tello (Argentina), Clément Turpin (France), Jesús Valenzuela (Venezuela), Slavo Vinci (Slovenia), Felix Zwayer (Germany). Assistant Referees: Ramzan Al-Naimi (Qatar), Majed Al-Shammari (Qatar), Rafael Alves (Brazil), Ilyas Arfa (Algeria), Michael Barwegen (Canada), Ishak Bashkivkin (Uzbekistan), Ashley Beecham (Australia), Mehdi Begui (Iran), Juan Pablo Belatti (Argentina), Gary Beswick (England), Marco Pesquera (Chile), Bruno Boschilia (Brazil), Stuart Burt (England), Djibril Camara (Senegal), Eduardo Cardozo (Paraguay), Gabriel Chadi (Argentina), Nicolas Davios (Uruguay), Maximiliano Del Jesú (Uruguay), Christian Dietz (Germany), Jan-Erik Engan (Norway), Zak England (England), Timur Gainulin (Uzbekistan), Melsiades Gualano (Paraguay), Robert Kempter (Germany), Tomasz Klansak (Slovakia), Adnan Kovačić (Slovenia), Adam Kupcik (Poland), Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland), Walter Lopez (Honduras), James Mainwaring (England), Danilo Maines (Brazil), Marius Maresca (Romania), David Moran (El Salvador), Tulio Moreno (Honduras), Alberto Morin (Mexico), Cyril Mugnier (France), Kathryn Nesbitt (USA), Adam Nunn (England), Benjamin Christian Pages (France), Bruno Pires (Brazil), Antonio Pupo (Uruguay), Cristian Ramirez (Ecuador), José Retamal (Chile), Miguel Roja (Portugal), Melsiades Saldívar (Paraguay), Jensen Santos (Honduras), Anton Schettino (Uruguay), Andreas Söderqvist (Sweden), Enrique Soto (Chile), Andriy Stepanov (Uzbekistan), Ferenc Toniuji (Romania), Jorge Uruguay (Uruguay), Steven Versi (Kenya), and Abbas Akram Zerhouni (Algeria) will be the VAR referees.

The VAR referees are Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar), Mahmoud Ashour (Egypt), Ivan Bebek (Croatia), Jerome Brisard (France), Bastian Danckert (Germany), Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain), Marco Di Bello (Italy), Rob Deberink (Netherlands), Hezam Alfaro (Morocco), Shaun Evans (Australia), Nicolas Gayo (Colombia), Laudan Gonzalez (Uruguay), Tatiana Guzman (Nicaragua), Alejandro Hernandez (Spain), Tomasz Kwiatkowski (Poland), Hernan Carlos Mastraniello (Argentina), and Ming Fu.