Alireza Faghani will take charge of England’s blockbuster World Cup last-16 tie against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium on Sunday night.
The 48-year-old Australian official, who migrated from Iran in 2019 and has refereed under the Australian flag since 2023, is officiating in his third Fifa 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 last-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 only took charge of two group-stage matches at the last World Cup in Qatar but has already courted controversy this summer, after he opted not to give France a penalty in their opening game against Senegal despite a VAR review showing contact on Kylian Mbappe. He also took charge of the goalless draw between Colombia and Portugal.
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 below for the officiating team in full for England vs Mexico:
Who are the officials for England vs Mexico?
Referee: Alireza Faghani (Australia)
Assistant Referees: George Lakrindis and Andrew Lindsay (both Australia)
Fourth official: Jalal Jayed (Morocco)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Zakaria Brinsi (Morocco)
Video Assistant Referee: Nicolas Gallo (Colombia)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: Juan Lara (Chile)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Juan Soto (Venezuela)
What TV channel is it on?
England vs Mexico will be broadcast live on BBC One and can be streamed via BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
Coverage starts at midnight. Kick-off is at 1pm (BST) on the morning of Monday, 6 July.
