Argentinian referee Facundo Tello will take charge of the FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final between France and Morocco — a fixture that echoes their memorable 2022 semi-final, which France won 2-0.

Tello will be flanked by compatriots Juan Pablo Belatti and Gabriel Chade as assistant referees. Two further Argentinians, Dario Herrera and Cristian Navarro, will serve as fourth official and reserve assistant referee respectively.

A repeat of Seville 2022?

France are chasing a third consecutive World Cup final, having lifted the trophy in 2018 before falling to Argentina in the 2022 decider. Didier Deschamps' side reached this stage with a 1-0 victory over Paraguay.

Morocco, meanwhile, arrived here after a commanding 3-0 Round of 16 win over Canada. A second successive semi-final would cement further their status as African football's greatest World Cup story — they already made history in Qatar by becoming the first African nation to reach the last four.

Tello's World Cup record

This will be Tello's fifth World Cup assignment at this tournament, having already refereed two matches in North America. He oversaw Canada's 1-1 group-stage draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as South Africa's 1-0 Group A victory over South Korea.

Significantly, Tello has previous history with Morocco at this level. He officiated their 1-0 quarter-final win over Portugal at the 2022 World Cup, brandishing five bookings and one red card in that match.

Despite that result, Tello is not a card-heavy official on the World Cup stage, averaging just 3.2 bookings per game — a figure that climbs to 5.7 per fixture in the Liga Profesional de Futbol, where he has refereed the bulk of his club matches. Notably, he has not awarded a single penalty across his five World Cup appearances.