Salvadoran referee Iván Barton has received the biggest assignment of his career after FIFA selected him to officiate Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal between Spain and France. The match will be played at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas, beginning at 2 p.m. local time, which is 1 p.m. in Costa Rica and El Salvador and 3 p.m. Eastern time. The winner will advance to Sunday’s final at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Barton will lead a largely Central American officiating crew. Fellow Salvadoran David Morán will serve as the first assistant referee, while Nicaragua’s Antonio Pupiro will be the second assistant. Sweden’s Glenn Nyberg has been appointed as the fourth official.
The appointment represents a major moment for Salvadoran and Central American refereeing. Barton, Morán and Pupiro have worked together throughout the tournament and will now take charge of one of its most closely watched matches, with a place in the World Cup final at stake.
Tuesday’s game will be Barton’s fourth assignment as the main referee at the 2026 tournament. He previously handled the group-stage matches between Turkey and Paraguay and Japan and Sweden before overseeing Switzerland’s penalty-shootout victory over Colombia in the round of 16.
His tournament drew international attention during the Turkey-Paraguay match when Paraguay’s Miguel Almirón was sent off under a new rule concerning players covering their mouths while speaking to opponents. Barton later managed a tense scoreless knockout match between Switzerland and Colombia that required extra time and penalties.
The 35-year-old official is working at his second men’s World Cup. At Qatar 2022, he refereed Japan’s 2-1 upset of Germany, Brazil’s 1-0 victory over Switzerland and England’s 3-0 round-of-16 win against Senegal. He has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2018 and has also handled major matches in the Concacaf Champions Cup, Gold Cup, Nations League, Olympic Games and FIFA Club World Cup.
Barton has now surpassed Guatemala’s Carlos Batres as the Central American referee with the most matches handled at men’s World Cups. Tuesday’s assignment will bring his career total to seven matches across the 2022 and 2026 tournaments.
The semifinal brings together two of Europe’s strongest teams. France reached the last four by defeating Morocco 2-0, while Spain advanced with a 2-1 victory over Belgium. France is appearing in a third consecutive World Cup semifinal, while Spain has reached this stage for the first time since winning the tournament in 2010.
The match is also a rematch of the Euro 2024 semifinal, which Spain won 2-1 before going on to capture the championship. France won the countries’ only previous World Cup meeting, defeating Spain 3-1 in the round of 16 in 2006. For Barton and his Central American assistants, the assignment places the region’s refereeing on one of football’s largest stages. Every major decision Tuesday will be made under the pressure of a World Cup semifinal and watched by millions around the world.
