Why Michael Oliver has been blocked from refereeing World Cup final

Michael Oliver was one of the favourites to referee the World Cup final.

However, the Premier League official has been blocked from overseeing the showpiece clash.

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The 2026 World Cup final will take place at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey this weekend – Sunday, July 19 at 8pm.

FIFA are yet to appoint a referee for the match with the tournament currently at the semi-final stage.

Oliver was involved during the last eight, with the 41-year-old named as the referee for Spain’s win over Belgium.

If he had been allowed to referee for the World Cup final, Oliver would have been the fourth English official to do so.

The last of those was Howard Webb, who was the man in the middle for Spain’s win over the Netherlands in 2010.

Why Oliver has been blocked from World Cup final?

Oliver has been denied the opportunity of refereeing the final.

As England or Argentina will advance beyond the semi-finals, he can no longer officiate the match.

Referees are unable to take charge of fixtures involving their own country, with Ashington-born Oliver an FA referee.

However, he is also not permitted to referee Argentina due to previous political situations between the two countries, namely the Falklands War in 1982.

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England and Argentina meet in the semi-finals on Wednesday night for a place in the final.

The Three Lions beat Norway last Saturday in the quarter-finals while Argentina edged past Switzerland later that same day.

As both sides advanced to the last four, it has confirmed that Oliver cannot referee the final.

This summer’s tournament represents his second World Cup as a referee.

Oliver previously took charge of three matches in 2018, including Croatia’s quarter-final win over Brazil.

Meanwhile, he has already officiated four fixtures in North America, including Canada vs Morocco in the last 16.

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However, Oliver previously had to be replaced as referee for the group stage clash between Ivory Coast and Ecuador due to injury.

He is one of two English referees at this summer’s finals alongside Anthony Taylor.

Oliver has previous final experience after overseeing the FA Cup final in both 2018 and 2021.

In addition, he was in charge of the 2016 League Cup final as well as the 2023 UEFA Super Cup.