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Who is England-Mexico ref? Alireza Faghani in spotlight for VAR overturns, red card call in World Cup originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The temperature is high at the Azteca.
England and Mexico are playing one of the wildest matches of the 2026 World Cup. There've been VAR reviews, penalty kicks and a red card. Yeah, the refereeing has been in the spotlight.
As usual, there's just one ref on the pitch.
He's getting quite the attention and spotlight.
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Who is the England-Mexico ref?
Alireza Faghani is the referee for the England-Mexico match. He's the man in the middle of the pitch with the whistle getting all the attention.
He's from Iran but now represents Australia after moving there seven years ago.
His biggest controversy came in the 2023 Asian Cup, when he sent off an Iraqi striker with a second yellow card, which was given for mimicking an opposing goal celebration.
A petition by Iraq's fans got more than 800,000 signatures in an effort to get Faghani suspended, but the Asian Football Confederation ruled that he had made the right call.
Faghani first officiated a World Cup in 2018, so he's a trusted match official for FIFA.
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Has Alireza Faghani done Mexico or England matches?
Faghani was the ref for a Mexico match and an England match in 2018.
Mexico beat Germany 1-0, while England fell to Belgium 2-0.
He had two matches in 2022 in Qatar, neither involving these teams.
So far in 2026, he had officiated France's 3-1 win over Senegal, and Portugal's 0-0 draw with Colombia.
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