FIFA has picked Wilton Pereira Sampaio to referee the opening match of the 2026 World Cup, giving the 44-year-old from Goiás one of the tournament’s most watched assignments. He will take charge of Mexico against South Africa on Thursday, June 11, at 4 p.m. Brasília time in Mexico City, with Bruno Pires and Bruno Boschilia as his assistants.
The appointment is drawing attention because Sampaio’s name already carries weight in world football. He has been on FIFA’s refereeing roster since 2013, worked four matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and was a VAR official at the 2018 tournament in Russia, a résumé that puts him among Brazil’s most experienced international referees.
For Brazilian fans, the news also landed with a mix of pride and recognition. Social media filled with humorous posts calling him “a lenda,” a nod to how familiar his name has become on the big stage. His rise began long before that, when he joined the Goiás Football Federation between 2010 and 2011 after starting out in Teresina de Goiás, in the northwest of the state.
That path has not been free of scrutiny. Some of Sampaio’s past decisions have sparked debate and criticism from fans, club officials and commentators, the kind of reaction that follows referees only when they are working matches that matter. Even so, FIFA has placed him at the center of the opening night, alongside two Brazilian assistants, in a game that will set the tone for the entire World Cup.
What comes next is clear enough: Sampaio will walk out in Mexico City on June 11 with Mexico and South Africa in front of a global audience, and every call he makes will be judged in real time. The choice says FIFA trusts his experience for a match with no room for hesitation, even if his past has shown that not every whistle he blows is received quietly.
