COSAFA match officials selected for 2026 FIFA World Cup
The COSAFA region will be represented in the match officials department at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, with three referees and assistant referees chosen for the tournament.
FIFA announced 52 referees, 88 assistant referees and 30 Video Assistant Referee (VAR) officials for the expanded 48-team, 104-match tournament, which will run from June 11 to July 19.
South Africa’s Abongile Tom has been named among the referees as a reward for his consistent performances in recent editions of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, as well as in the TotalEnergies CAF interclub competitions.
He will make his debut at the global finals.
Assistant referee Zakhele Siwela, also from South Africa, will appear at his third World Cup after also officiating at the 2018 and 2022 finals.
He ran the lines when Belgium beat Panama 3-0 and Poland defeated Japan 1-0 in 2018, and had two more games in 2022 as Japan shocked Spain 2-1 and France beat Australia 4-1.
Jerson Emiliano dos Santos from Angola will also be an assistant referee at this year’s World Cup. He was also at the 2018 finals as part of the same team as Siwela and officiated in the same matches.
He was part of a different team at the 2022 tournament and officiated in Belgium’s 1-0 win over Canada.