Roiz Orders a Shakeup in Egypt's International Referee List Ahead of 2026 World Cup

Overview

FIFA officially published the international list of Egyptian referees for the coming year, announced by Colombian Oscar Roiz, head of the Egyptian Referees Committee. The update reflects changes from the current year, led by the retirement of Mahmoud Banna after Roiz's decision to remove him from the roster. Ahmed Al-Gandour is moved from the international list of on-field referees to the video referees (VAR) list; Sami Helhel exits the international list as a VAR official, while Mohammed Al-Gazi and Mahmoud Wafa join for the first time, and referee Rahma Youssef is added.

In the on-field referees roster, Amin Omar, Mahmoud Nagi, Mohammed Ma’ruf, Mahmoud Basyouni, Mohammed Mahmoud Qasem (Humada Al-Qalawi), Mohammed Al-Gazi, Mahmoud Wafa, Shahanda Al-Maghribi, Noura Samir, and Rahma Youssef are listed. For VAR, the list includes Mahmoud Ashour, Hosam Azab, Wael Farhan, Abdel Aziz El-Sayed, Ahmed Al-Gandour, Tarek Magdy, and Mohammed Ali Al-Shanawi. The list of assistant referees features Mahmoud Abu Al-Rijal, Ahmed Hossam Taha, Samir Gamal, Ahmed Tofiq Talab, Youssef Al-Basati, Mohammed Magdi Suleiman, Islam Abu Al-Ata, Yara Atef, Mi Hassan, Amal Hassan, and Jamalat Shabl.

The futsal referees named are Ahmed Hamdi, Ahmed Gamal, Mabrouk Nabil, and Tarik Abdul Salam, while the beach soccer panel includes Ibrahim Mahjoub, Hani Khairy, Khaled Al-Sayed, and Mohammed Al-Azazy.

Meanwhile, Amin Omar will participate in a training camp for prospective World Cup referees as part of preparations for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The pre-training camp for referees runs in Doha from February 23 to 27. Separately, Mahmoud Ashour will attend FIFA's assistive VAR referees camp in Doha from February 3 to 5, with 26 referees from several countries taking part. The event is part of FIFA's ongoing “FIFA Camps” series hosted by Qatar ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Punchline 1: Roiz reshuffles lists with such speed that even the whistle needs a calendar app—talk about fast breaks!

Punchline 2: If the roster changes keep coming, I’m filing the next World Cup under “season finale: referee edition.”