July 19, 2026, 6:04 a.m. ET
Slavko Vincic is the kind of referee people have opinions about. Real Madrid cannot stand him. Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho vouches for him. He worked the 2024 Champions League final, and not long before that, he sent off a Real Madrid player on a night Jude Bellingham called “a joke.”
On Sunday, the 46-year-old from Slovenia gets the biggest game there is, Argentina against Spain. No one from his country has ever refereed a World Cup final before.
And with that comes the scrutiny and complaints. The World Cup has been full of accusations directed at the referees. The U.S. had a red card overturned in the most unusual circumstance. There has been grumbling that every big call has gone the way of defending-champion Argentina.
Here is who Vincic is, the matches that made his name, his history with both finalists, the crew beside him and the strange day in his past that keeps coming up.
Who is Slavko Vincic?
Vincic is 46 and has been on FIFA’s international roster since 2010. He has worked more than 500 professional matches, about 50 of them in the Champions League. He is one of the referees UEFA hands its biggest nights.
Sunday is the biggest of them all. It makes him the first Slovenian to referee a World Cup final, in his second World Cup after two matches in Qatar in 2022.
He said it was a huge moment for him.
“It’s something that is a dream for a referee, for a young referee when they start,” Vincic said. “So, I’m very proud, very proud of myself, my team,”
What big matches has Vincic refereed?
Plenty, and they have not all gone smoothly. He officiated the 2022 Europa League final, then the 2024 Champions League final, where Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley.
Real Madrid is also where Vincic has made enemies.
During the club’s Championship League exit to Bayern Munich last season, Vincic sent off Eduardo Camavinga.
Bellingham called the decision “a joke.” Not everyone sees it that way. Mourinho is among those who have praised the way Vincic runs a game.
What is his record with Argentina and Spain?
His history with the two world cup finalists could not be more different.
The last time Vincic had Lionel Messi’s Argentina was the 2022 World Cup opener, and it became one of the biggest upsets the sport has ever seen. Saudi Arabia beat Argentina 2-1 to end a 36-match unbeaten run.
Spain, when Vincic is on the whistle, has fared better. He worked their Euro 2024 semifinal against France, the night a teenage Lamine Yamal bent in the long-range goal that told the world who he was.
The crazy story that had Vincic detained by police
On May 29, 2020, Vincic got swept up in a police raid in Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, that authorities said was aimed at a ring tied to drugs, weapons and sexual exploitation. He was never charged with a crime. He was detained, gave his statement and was let go within hours.
Vincic said he had shown up for a business lunch and knew nothing about the rest.
UEFA and the Slovenian federation stood by him, and he went back to work and refereed the Champions League final.
Who is also on the World Cup final crew?
Vincic brings his own people. His assistants are fellow Slovenians Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic, and Jordan’s Adham Makhadmeh is the fourth official.
The video booth is an international group. Germany’s Bastian Dankert is the VAR, with Colombia’s Nicolas Gallo assisting and Qatar’s Khamis Al Marri on support. FIFA put out the full list Friday.
Why the World Cup officiating is under the microscope
For weeks, teams that lost to Argentina wondered aloud about the calls, and FIFA’s chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina, would not give the accusations an inch.
“Nobody can question the integrity of the FIFA World Cup match officials,” Collina said.
That is the field Vincic walks into Sunday. A neutral man, a loud stadium and a whole world watching his every move.
