Renowned Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala has been omitted from the list of African officials selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, despite officiating the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final.
FIFA released a list featuring seven centre referees, 10 assistant referees, and two Video Assistant Referees (VAR) from Africa for the tournament, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026.
Also missing from the list are Senegal’s Issa Sy and Mali’s Boubou Traoré.
Ndala’s exclusion follows the controversial AFCON final in Morocco, where he was at the centre of attention after the match was temporarily halted amid protests by Senegalese players. Although Senegal initially won the match 1–0, Morocco was later declared the winner by CAF’s appeals committee.
Africa’s representatives for the World Cup include officials from Algeria, Egypt, Gabon, Morocco, Mauritania, South Africa, Cameroon, Angola, and Somalia.
The selected centre referees are Omar Artan (Somalia), Dahane Beida (Mauritania), Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria), Amin Mohamed (Egypt), Abongile Tom (South Africa), Jalal Jayed (Morocco), and Pierre Atcho (Gabon).
Among them, Ghorbal is the most experienced, having officiated at multiple AFCON tournaments, while Artan is set to make his World Cup debut, marking a milestone for Somali football.
The assistant referees include Mostafa Akarkad (Morocco), Ahmed Hossam and Mahmoud Abdouelregal (Egypt), Amos Abeigne and Boris Ditsoga (Gabon), Mokrane Gourari and Abbes Akram (Algeria), Elvis Noupue (Cameroon), Siwela Zakhele (South Africa), and Jerson Santos (Angola).
The two VAR officials selected are Ashour Mahmoud (Egypt) and Hamza El Fariq (Morocco), with Egypt leading Africa’s representation with four officials.
The selection highlights FIFA’s final pool of African referees for the expanded 48-team tournament.
