Naija Street Matters reports that FIFA has announced its list of African referees for the tournament, which includes seven centre referees, 10 assistant referees, and two Video Assistant Referees (VAR).

The 2026 World Cup, to be hosted jointly by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, will feature 48 teams and run from June 11 to July 19, 2026.

Also missing from the list are Senegal’s Issa Sy and Mali’s Boubou Traoré.

Ndala’s omission follows the controversial AFCON final held in Morocco earlier this year. The match, which he officiated, was marred by chaos after Senegalese players walked off the pitch in protest. The game was paused for several minutes before continuing.

Although Senegal initially secured a 1-0 win, Morocco was later declared the winner after a ruling by CAF’s appeals committee.

For the World Cup, Africa will be represented by match officials from countries including 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 Jayeed (Morocco), and Pierre Atcho (Gabon).

Among them, Mustapha Ghorbal is considered the most experienced, having officiated in previous AFCON tournaments, including the 2018 and 2022 editions. Meanwhile, Omar Artan is set to make his World Cup debut, marking a major milestone for Somali football.

The assistant referees selected include Mostafa Akarkad (Morocco), Ahmed Hossam (Egypt), Mahmoud Abdouelregal (Egypt), Amos Abeigne (Gabon), Boris Ditsoga (Gabon), Mokrane Gourari (Algeria), Elvis Noupue (Cameroon), Siwela Zakhele (South Africa), Abbes Akram (Algeria), and Jerson Santos (Angola).

For VAR duties, Ashour Mahmoud and Hamza El Fariq were selected.

Egypt leads the African contingent with four officials, while Morocco, Algeria, and Gabon each have three representatives. South Africa has two, and the remaining countries have one official each.