Alireza Faghani will take charge of England’s World Cup last-16 tie against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium on Sunday night, putting one of Fifa’s most experienced officials in the middle of a knockout match that will be watched closely. The 48-year-old Australian official is back on a stage he has reached before, and this assignment is one of the clearest signs that Fifa still trusts him in the biggest games.
The appointment matters now because England and Mexico are about to meet in a fixture that carries immediate pressure and leaves no room for recovery. Coverage starts at midnight, with kick-off set for 1pm (BST) on Monday, 6 July, live on One and available through iPlayer and the Sport website.
Faghani is in his third Fifa World Cup and has built a record that helps explain why he was chosen. He took charge of four matches in Russia in 2018, including France’s 4-3 win over Argentina in the last-16, England’s defeat to Belgium in the third-place play-off and Mexico’s 1-0 victory over Germany. He then handled two group-stage matches in Qatar in 2022, keeping him in the frame across successive tournaments rather than as a one-off pick.
His experience is not limited to World Cup duty. Faghani refereed the 2016 Olympic men’s gold medal match and last year’s Club World Cup final between Chelsea and PSG, which places him among the few officials trusted with finals and knockout rounds at the highest level. That record goes a long way toward explaining why he has been handed England against Mexico, a game that needs control as much as it needs judgment.
But the assignment also comes with a sharper edge. Faghani has already drawn controversy this summer after a penalty decision in France’s opening game against Senegal, when a VAR review showed contact on Kylian Mbappe and no spot-kick was given. For Fifa, the decision to send him into another major knockout match suggests the assessment is about more than one call, even if the scrutiny around that call will follow him into this one.
Faghani migrated from Iran in 2019 and has refereed under the Australian flag since 2023, a change that has not slowed his rise in the tournament hierarchy. Sunday night will show whether Fifa’s faith in him is rewarded in a match where every whistle will matter, and where the official at the centre may end up shaping the story as much as the teams themselves.
