FIFA-ranked Ghanaian referee Daniel Laryea has been left out of the list of officials selected to officiate at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, despite being the country's most prominent match official.
The tournament, set to be hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, will feature 48 nations. Ghana has secured qualification and will compete in Group L alongside England, Croatia, and Panama.
Seven referees from Africa were named in the 50-man roster, including Egypt's Amine Mohammed, Algeria's Mustapha Ghorbal, Gabon's Pierre Atcho, Morocco's Jalal Jayed, Mauritania's Dahane Beida, Somalia's Omar Abdulkadir Artan, and South Africa's Abongile Tom. Laryea, however, was not among them.
Top Premier League referees Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor headline the overall list of selected officials.
Laryea recently took charge of Nigeria's semi-final clash against Morocco at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, a performance that sharply divided opinion. The final of that same tournament, officiated by Jean-Jacques Ndala, also drew widespread criticism. Ndala was likewise omitted from the World Cup referees list.
Brazil leads all nations with nine officials selected, comprising three central referees and six assistant referees.
The full list of 2026 World Cup referees includes:
Europe: Michael Oliver, Anthony Taylor (England), Francois Letexier, Clement Turpin (France), Felix Zwayer (Germany), Maurizio Mariani (Italy), Danny Makkelie (Netherlands), Espen Eskas (Norway), Szymon Marciniak (Poland), Joao Pinheiro (Portugal), Istvan Kovacs (Romania), Slavko Vincic (Slovenia), Alejandro Hernández Hernández (Spain), Glenn Nyberg (Sweden), Sandro Schaerer (Switzerland)
Asia: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan), Ning Ma (China), Alireza Faghani (Australia), Yusuke Araki (Japan), Abdulrahman Al Jassim (Qatar), Khalid Al Turais (Saudi Arabia), Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
Africa: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria), Pierre Atcho (Gabon), Amin Mohamed (Egypt), Jalal Jayed (Morocco), Dahane Beida (Mauritania), Omar Abdulkadir Artan (Somalia), Abongile Tom (South Africa)
CONCACAF: Drew Fischer (Canada), Juan Calderón (Costa Rica), Said Martinez (Honduras), Oshane Nation (Jamaica), Cesar Ramos (Mexico), Katia Garcia (Mexico), Iván Barton (El Salvador), Ismail Elfath (United States), Tori Penso (United States)
CONMEBOL: Yael Falcon Perez, DarÃo Herrera, Facundo Tello (Argentina), Ramon Abatti, Raphael Claus, Wilton Sampaio (Brazil), Cristian Garay (Chile), Andrés Rojas (Colombia), Juan Gabriel Benitez (Paraguay), Kevin Ortega (Peru), Gustavo Tejera (Uruguay), Jesús Valenzuela (Venezuela)
Laryea's omission is a blow to Ghanaian officiating, as the country will have no representative among the match officials at the global tournament.
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