Excluding French referee François Letexier from the remaining matches of the 2026 World Cup after France's qualification

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) decided to exclude the French referee François Letexier from officiating the remaining matches in the 2026 World Cup, following the qualification of the French national team to the semi-finals.

The decision comes in implementation of the international federation's regulations, which stipulate that referees from countries qualified for the final four should not be assigned to officiate the semi-final matches, the third-place match, and the final, to ensure the highest levels of neutrality in the decisive stages of the tournament.

Letexier was one of the prominent referees who officiated matches in the current edition of the World Cup, having led several important encounters, including the Egypt vs. Argentina round of 16 match, which ended with an Argentine victory of 3-2 after a game that witnessed controversial refereeing events.

During that match, the referee disallowed a goal for the Egyptian team after reviewing the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology due to a foul at the beginning of the attack, and also awarded Argentina's third goal after reviewing the clip through the same technology.

He also showed a red card to the Egyptian team's goalkeeping coach Saafan Al-Saghir, in addition to issuing several yellow cards to Egyptian players, while the head coach Hossam Hassan faced a disciplinary penalty due to his objections to some refereeing decisions during the match.

Letexier's decisions during the match sparked wide discussion among fans and analysts, amid the controversy surrounding several influential incidents witnessed in the encounter.

With France's qualification to the semi-finals, the French referee's mission officially ends in the tournament, according to FIFA's regulations, removing him from the list of referees nominated to officiate the remaining four matches, which are the two semi-finals, the third-place match, and the final.

The International Federation continues to evaluate the performance of the refereeing teams to select the referees who will officiate the final stage of the tournament, taking into account technical competence and complete neutrality in the matches that will determine the identity of the world champion.