Knockout stage kicks off today, Tuesday, 7 October in Valparaíso
Total of 54 match officials, including referees and assistant referees, were appointed for showpiece tournament in Chile
Football Video Support system is being used at competition
FIFA has released details of the refereeing teams that will take charge of the round-of-16 matches at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025™.
The knockout stage is scheduled to kick off today, Tuesday, 7 October in Valparaíso. The first match, between Ukraine and Spain, will feature a trio of officials from Morocco: referee Jalal Jayed will be assisted by Lahsen Azgaou and Mostafa Akarkad, with Malaysia’s Nazmi Nasaruddin serving as the fourth official.
Next up, the clash between hosts Chile and Mexico will be refereed by Portugal’s João Pinheiro, with his fellow countrymen Bruno Jesus and Luciano Maia running the lines; Somalia’s Omar Abdulkadir Artan will act as the fourth official.
No fewer than four matches will take place on Wednesday, 8 October. Argentina and Nigeria will get the proceedings in Santiago under way, with three Italian match officials in action: Maurizio Mariani will call the shots, with Daniele Bindoni and Alberto Tegoni on assistant duty and Morocco’s Jayed as the fourth official.
Also in the Chilean capital, Japan and France will subsequently square off under the supervision of a mostly Mexican refereeing team led by Katia Itzel García, who will be assisted by Sandra Ramírez and Karen Díaz, while Peru’s Kevin Ortega has been appointed as the fourth official.
Over in Talca, Colombia v. South Africa will be refereed by a Saudi Arabian trio, with Khalid Al Turais in the middle and Mohammed Al Abakry and Abdulrahim Al Shammari serving as assistants. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Irfan Peljto will be the fourth official.
This will be followed at Talca’s Estadio Fiscal by the encounter between Paraguay and Norway, which will be overseen by Keylor Herrera. His fellow Costa Ricans William Chow and Víctor Ramírez will be on flag-waving duty, and the fourth official will be Joe Dickerson, of the United States.
The round of 16 will wrap up on Thursday, 9 October with two fixtures in Rancagua. The first match will see the USA play Italy, with Uruguayan Gustavo Tejera carrying the whistle. Joining him as assistants will be his compatriots Carlos Barreiro and Agustín Berisso.
Last but not least, Morocco and Korea Republic will do battle under the watchful eye of Argentinian referee Darío Herrera, who will be assisted by fellow Argentines Cristian Navarro and José Savorani.