France Coach Deschamps Dismisses Concerns Over All-Argentine Referee Crew for Morocco Match

Didier Deschamps, head coach of the French national football team, stated that he is not overly concerned about the fact that the entire officiating crew for the 2026 North and Central America World Cup quarterfinal match against Morocco consists of referees from Argentina.

According to an AFP report on July 9, Deschamps said during the official press conference ahead of the match against Morocco, "There is nothing I can do about the referee assignments. I just try to trust the officiating crew."

He added, "There will always be controversial decisions depending on which side you are on, but our opponent is Morocco, not the referee."

France will face Morocco at Boston Stadium in Massachusetts, U.S., on July 10 at 5:00 a.m. to compete for a spot in the semifinals.

If France, the winner of the 2018 Russia World Cup and runner-up in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, defeats Morocco, it will become the third nation to reach the semifinals in three consecutive World Cups, following Germany (four consecutive times from 2002 to 2014, and three consecutive times from 1982 to 1990) and Brazil (three consecutive times from 1994 to 2002).

However, Morocco is also a rising powerhouse that became the first African team to reach the semifinals in the Qatar tournament, making the outcome of this match difficult to predict.

The officiating crew announced by FIFA for this match has drawn attention.

The crew, including referee Facundo Tello, two assistant referees, the fourth official, and the reserve assistant referee, are all from Argentina.

According to the BBC, this is the first match in this World Cup where the entire officiating crew on the pitch, excluding the Video Assistant Referees (VAR), is from the same country.

Referee Tello officiated the Canada-Bosnia and Herzegovina match and the match where South Korea lost 0-1 to South Africa during the group stage of this tournament.

In the Canada-Bosnia match, the fourth and reserve officials were from Saudi Arabia, while in the South Korea-South Africa match, they were from Colombia.

As an all-Argentine crew has been assigned to such an important match, voices of concern have emerged in France.

Argentina narrowly defeated France in a penalty shootout in the final of the Qatar tournament to lift its third World Cup trophy, ending a 36-year wait.

In this tournament as well, France has been considered a strong candidate to prevent Argentina from winning back-to-back titles.

Despite the worries of French fans, Deschamps expressed his intention to focus solely on the game, stating, "Referees are there to apply the rules of the game fairly."

Meanwhile, Deschamps revealed that France's appeal to FIFA regarding the controversial yellow card given to French forward Michael Olise during the round of 16 match against Paraguay (which France won 1-0) was rejected.

Olise received a yellow card after a collision with opposing player Matias Galarza during second-half stoppage time against Paraguay.

Galarza fell to the ground clutching his face, but slow-motion replays showed that Olise had only grabbed Galarza's jersey and did not appear to have committed an act significant enough to knock him down.

Regarding this, Deschamps said, "I was informed by FIFA this morning that the decision to uphold the caution stands."

Consequently, if Olise receives another yellow card in the quarterfinal match against Morocco, he will be unable to play in the semifinals even if France advances.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.