Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic will officiate the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina on Sunday.
Vincic will be joined by compatriot assistants Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic, making history as the first ever referee from Slovenia to take charge of the landmark fixture.
“So, first of all, a shock. Then happiness. I was shaking, so it’s an incredible honour to get the World Cup final,” said Vincic, who was in tears upon hearing the news. “It’s something that… it’s only a dream for a referee, for a young referee when they start. So, I’m very proud, very proud of myself, my team.
“It’s very difficult to put everything into words, but I’m very proud to represent my country, Slovenia, in the biggest sporting event in the world. So, yeah, I’m very proud. My team is very proud and we will do our best.”
Vincic is no stranger to the elite game and is highly experienced at the very top level of European football.
He officiated the 2024 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, two years after taking charge of the Europa League final that pitted Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt against each other.
The match officials for @FIFAWorldCup Final have been appointed. 🤝
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) July 16, 2026
The 46-year-old has refereed at two European Championships, overseeing Spain’s Euro 2024 semi-final win over France on their journey to becoming champions.
Vincic made his World Cup debut in Qatar in 2022, with his first match bringing back bad memories for Argentina. He took charge of their shock opening loss to Saudi Arabia, something Lionel Scaloni’s side managed to of course bounce back from as they went on to win the tournament.
Sunday’s finale will mark his sixth career World Cup match overall and his fourth assignment of the current campaign, which kicked off during the group stage with Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Morocco.
He also officiated Algeria’s group-stage win over Jordan before overseeing co-hosts Mexico’s last-32 triumph against fellow dark horses Ecuador.
A story that has surprised fans this week has been the news that Vincic was once wrongly arrested at a “sex party” in Bosnia in 2020, per The Sun. Vincic told Slovenian media he was attending a business lunch when a raid took place and drugs, guns and money were seized. He was later probed by police as a witness before being released, with law enforcement deciding he had nothing to do with the incident.
Vincic later told Slovenian media: “I found myself on this ranch by chance. I have my own company, I was in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a business meeting. I accepted an invitation to lunch, which turned out to be my biggest mistake. I regret it. I was sitting at a table with my company, all of a sudden the police came and what happened, happened. I have nothing to do with the group that was arrested and detained, nor do my business partners. Yes, they really took us to the police, asked [us] as witnesses, when it turned out that we didn’t even know them, we were able to go.”
Slovenian refereeing boss Vlado Sajn added: “According to the information we gathered from official and unofficial sources, and last but not least from Slavko himself, he is not suspected of anything, no proceedings have been instituted against him. He found himself in this place at the wrong time. He was invited to a party where there was a large group of people – he did not know the vast majority… I consider this story to be a web of unfortunate circumstances.”
