RateTheRef

Tuesday 7th September 2021

Group A
18:00 CET - Baku (Bakı Olimpiya Stadionu)
AZERBAIJAN - PORTUGAL
Referee: Marco Guida (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Filippo Meli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alessandro Costanzo (ITA)
Fourth Official: Fabio Maresca (ITA)
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Di Bello (ITA)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Ciro Carbone (ITA)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Levan Paniashvili (GEO)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Milovan Đukanović (MNE)

Group A
20:45 CET - Dublin (Dublin Arena)
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND - SERBIA
Referee: José María Sánchez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabańero (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Ińigo Prieto (ESP)
Fourth Official: Pablo González (ESP)
Video Assistant Referee: Alejandro Hernández (ESP)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Teodoro Sobrino (ESP)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Marinus Koopman (NED)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Per Svärd (SWE)

Group D
20:45 CET - Zenica (Stadion Bilino polje)
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - KAZAKHSTAN
Referee: Ygal Frid (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: David Elias Bitton (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Matityahu Yakobov (ISR)
Fourth Official: Daniel Bar Natan (ISR)
Video Assistant Referee: Roi Reinshreiber (ISR)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: David Fuxman (ISR)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Costas Kapitanis (CYP)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Ivan Borissov Lekov (BUL)

Group D
20:45 CET - Décines-Charpieu (OL Stadium)
FRANCE - FINLAND
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Dietz (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Dominik Schaal (GER)
Fourth Official: Florian Badstübner (GER)
Video Assistant Referee: Christian Dingert (GER)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Norbert Grudzinski (GER)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Stefano Podeschi (SMR)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Eduard Dervishaj Nelaj (ESP)

Group F
20:45 CET - Torshavn (Tórsvřllur)
FAROE ISLANDS - MOLDOVA
Referee: Ricardo de Burgos (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Ángel Nevado (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: José Enrique Naranjo (ESP)
Fourth Official: Adrián Cordero (ESP)
Video Assistant Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández (ESP)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Michalis Koukoulakis (GRE)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Markku Lehtola (FIN)

Group F
20:45 CET - Copenhagen (Parken)
DENMARK - ISRAEL
Referee:Tobias Stieler (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Christan Gittelmann (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduard Beitinger (GER)
Fourth Official: Marco Fritz (GER)
Video Assistant Referee: Sascha Stegemann (GER)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Mike Pickel (GER)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Nikolai Levnikov (RUS)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Peadar Ryan (IRL)

Group F
20:45 CET - Vienna (Ernst-Happel-Stadion)
AUSTRIA - SCOTLAND
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Margaritov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Diyan Valkov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Nikola Popov (BUL)
Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Rob Dieperink (NED)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Dejan Filipovic (SRB)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Artur Azaryan (ARM)

Group G
20:45 CET - Pogdorica (Gradski Stadion)
MONTENEGRO - LATVIA
Referee: Harm Osmers (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Kempter (GER)
Fourth Official: Robert Schröder (GER)
Video Assistant Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Robert Wessel (GER)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Georgios Bikas (GRE)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Vasko Dojcinovski (MKD)

Group G
20:45 CET - Oslo (Ullevaal Stadion)
NORWAY - GIBRALTAR
Referee: Nikolas Neokleous (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Michalis Soteriou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 2: Marios Kalogerou (CYP)
Fourth Official: Georgios Nikolaou (CYP)
Video Assistant Referee: Vasilis Dimitriou (CYP)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Chrysovalantis Theouli (CYP)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Ferenc Székely (HUN)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Kadri Jägel (EST)

Group G
20:45 CET - Amsterdam (Johan Cruijff ArenA)
NETHERLANDS - TURKEY
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Fabiano Preti (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alessandro Giallatini (ITA)
Fourth Official: Daniele Doveri (ITA)
Video Assistant Referee: Maurizio Mariani (ITA)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Alberto Tegoni (ITA)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Bernardino González Vázquez (ESP)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Balázs Makray (HUN)

Group H
20:45 CET - Moscow (Stadion Spartak)
RUSSIA - MALTA
Referee: Ali Palabiyik (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ceyhun Sesigüzel (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Serkan Olguncan (TUR)
Fourth Official: Yaşar Kemal Uğurlu (TUR)
Video Assistant Referee: Abdulkadir Bitigen (TUR)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Mete Kalkavan (TUR)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Asim Khudiyev (AZE)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Sviatlana Hrynkevich (BLR)

Group H
20:45 CET - Split (Stadion Poljud)
CROATIA - SLOVENIA
Referee: Clément Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Fourth Official: Jérémie Pignard (FRA)
Video Assistant Referee: Françoix Letexier (FRA)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jérôme Brisard (FRA)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Gylfi Ţór Orrason (ISL)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Loukas Siotropos (GRE)

Group H
20:45 CET - Bratislava (Národný futbalový štadión)
SLOVAKIA - CYPRUS
Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (AZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Zeynal Zeynalov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Akif Amirali (AZE)
Fourth Official: Elchin Masiyev (AZE)
Video Assistant Referee: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Stefano Alassio (ITA)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Stephen Lodge (ENG)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Octavian Goga (ROU)

Surprised to see Aytkein as well TBH. I know he’s been injured but didn’t justify his place on elite before this

Group I
18:00 CET - Elbasan (Elbasan Arena)
ALBANIA - HUNGARY
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Hessel Steegstra (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan de Vries (NED)
Fourth Official: Richard Martens (NED)
Video Assistant Referee: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Matteo Passeri (ITA)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Jens Larsen (DEN)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Alojzije Šupraha (CRO)

Excellent performance from Makkelie. Not the hardest game he will ever have, granted, but he seemed to enjoy it and had a great rapport with both sets of players. Several times you saw him chatting and smiling with both teams, smiles from them as well - he was very much respected by all on the pitch & in the dug outs. Thought it was going to be card free, both sets of players were fantastic in terms of their behaviour & conduct. 4 late YC for silly fouls, 3 to Albanian players (78, 90+1, 90+2) and 1 to Hungary (80). All accepted without even a shrug. Zero dissent. Zero crowding around the ref. Zero playacting. It was lovely!

Highlight of the match was the mad panic to try and find a pump to pump the ball up so a thrown in could be taken! Only 1 incident of any note - Gulácsi coming off his line and diving down to get the ball, striker coming in from slightly closer proximity & ended up kneeing Gulácsi in the head. No foul - both were legitimately going for the ball. Makkelie was very quick to get the medics on to Gulácsi though. They allowed him to continue but he was substituted at half time, makes me question if he should have been allowed to continue in the first place & that's on our medical team who attended to him, no-one else.  Crowd were noisy and good spirited. The Albanians had a drummer who managed to keep up a very rhythmic beat for the full 90 mins - amazing. Large contingent from Hungary - all well behaved. Around the 70th min they showed the possession as 50:50, Albania were the better team on the pitch though, more organised, stronger and cohesive. Hungary were a shambles and the win for Albania was very much deserved.

Makkelie and his team can be very happy with their performance and their contribution to the game.

Busy evening for English VAR. Nice appointment for Pawson, always good to get one of the bigger footballing powers

Nice to see Lahoz back on the international stage after the let-down at the Euros. Mike Riley running his eye over the Austrian ref in Belfast.

Group F
20:45 CET - Vienna (Ernst-Happel-Stadion)
AUSTRIA - SCOTLAND
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Margaritov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Diyan Valkov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Nikola Popov (BUL)
Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Rob Dieperink (NED)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Dejan Filipovic (SRB)
FIFA Match Commissioner: Artur Azaryan (ARM)

Not a Scotland fan but tuning into this game. 2 big decisions for the referee. A quite disgusting tackle by Hinteregger of Austria on Calum Mcgregor, a leg-breaking tackle, only yellow card awarded. Minute 31, gives penalty to Scotland after OFR by VAR. Minimal if any contact. He and whoever the VAR are have been shocking this half!

Any info for Tasos Papapetrou on England - Andorra?