Morocco's Jalal Jayed has been confirmed as the referee for Germany's round-of-32 clash with Paraguay at the FIFA World Cup 2026, to be played in Boston.

The match carries significant historical weight for Germany — it will be their first World Cup knockout fixture since their triumph in the 2014 final in Brazil, a fact that makes the occasion all the more remarkable.

How the two sides reached the last 32

Germany advanced from Group E as group winners despite a 2-1 defeat to Ecuador in their final group-stage match. A dominant 7-1 victory over Curacao and a 2-1 win against Ivory Coast were enough to see them through at the top of the table.

Paraguay progressed from Group D in third place after a goalless draw with Australia sealed their qualification. That result followed an opening 4-1 defeat to the United States and a 1-0 victory over Turkey.

Jayed's tournament record so far

This will be Jayed's third assignment at the tournament. The 39-year-old Moroccan has already overseen Germany's 7-1 thrashing of Curacao and Portugal's 5-0 demolition of Uzbekistan — matches in which the goals flowed freely but the cards did not.

Across those two matches, Jayed reached for his pocket just twice, issuing yellow cards to Uzbekistan's Odildzhon Khamrobekov and Portugal's Renato Veiga.

Full officiating team

Jayed will be supported by fellow Moroccans Zakaria Brinsi and Mostafa Akarkad as assistant referees. China's Ming Na takes on fourth official duties, with Fei Zhou serving as the reserve official.

The VAR operation will be led by Tatiana Guzmán of Nicaragua, with Hamza El-Fariq of Morocco as assistant VAR and Abdullah Alshehri of Saudi Arabia in the support VAR role.