Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić has been appointed to officiate the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday. The prestigious appointment makes Vinčić the first-ever Slovenian referee to lead a World Cup final match. This will mark his sixth match of the tournament, having already overseen Brazil vs. Morocco, Jordan vs. Algeria, and the round of 32 clash between Mexico and Ecuador.
Vinčić, who has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2010, has previously officiated only one match involving Argentina—their historic group-stage defeat to Saudi Arabia during the 2022 World Cup. While he has never refereed Spain in a World Cup match before, he has previously overseen four of their matches under UEFA. Joining him on the pitch as assistant referees are fellow Slovenians Tomaž Klančnik and Andraž Kovačič. Adham Makhadmeh will serve as the fourth official, while Mohammad Al-Kalaf has been named the reserve assistant referee.
Defending champions Argentina reached their second consecutive final after a series of dramatic comebacks. After breezing through the group stage with nine points from wins over Algeria, Austria, and Jordan, Argentina faced a tense extra-time battle against Cape Verde in the round of 32. Their round of 16 match against Egypt saw an incredible recovery; trailing 2-0 until the 79th minute, they scored twice in the final 11 minutes and added another in injury time to advance. After defeating Switzerland 2-1 in the quarter-finals, Argentina secured their place in the final with an 85th-minute and injury-time comeback to beat England 2-1 in the semi-finals.
Spain, aiming for their first title since 2010, also enjoyed a stellar run. Following a group-stage draw against Cape Verde, Spain dominated their remaining group matches. They cruised past Austria 3-0 in the round of 32, edged out Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal 1-0 in the round of 16, and defeated Belgium 2-1 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, they faced tournament favorites France, who had not trailed once in the entire tournament. Spain put France under immediate pressure with a 22nd-minute penalty, ultimately securing a dominant 2-0 victory to book their ticket to New Jersey.
