Image via uefa.com
Fifa confirmed today that Polish referee Szymon Marciniak is to take charge of Sunday’s World Cup Final between France and Argentina, with the 41 year-old from Płock being selected ahead of Dutch official Danny Makkelie, Mexico’s Cesar Ramos and the USA’s Ismail Elfath.
Named as favourite to officiate the final earlier in the week, Marciniak was selected by a Fifa committee headed by notorious former referee Pierluigi Collina.
Set to be the first Polish person to referee a World Cup final, Marciniak will be assisted in his duties by linesmen Paweł Sokolnicki and Tomasz Listkiewicz, as well as fourth official Tomasz Kwiatkowski. Listkiewicz’s father Michał assisted in the 1990 Final between Argentina and West Germany.
Marciniak is Poland’s most prestigious official, having first taken charge of an Ekstraklasa match in 2009, and has refereed a number of high-profile Champions League matches since rising to Uefa Elite status in 2016, including last season’s semi-final between Liverpool and Villarreal.
He made his World Cup debut in 2018, officiating two group stage matches as well as the Uefa Super Cup in the same year, and has already refereed two matches in Qatar, which both featured the two teams that play each other in the final.
Hopefully Marciniak and his assistants have a performance free of controversy, and make the correct decisions on Sunday afternoon.
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