Iran’s Faghani to officiate World Cup Belgium v England third-place playoff
Iranian referee Alireza Faghani together with compatriot linesmen Reza Sokhandan and Mohammad Mansouri have been picked to officiate the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup third-place playoff between Belgium and England.
The world’s soccer governing body chose the trio for the penultimate fixture of the tournament at the Saint Petersburg Stadium on Saturday.
They laudably performed their official duties during the Group F opener between the Mexico men’s national football team, nicknamed El Tri (The Tri), and World Cup title holder Germany on June 17.
The Luzhniki Stadium in the Russian capital city of Moscow exploded with Mexico fans’ jubilation in the 34th minute when Mexico’s 30-year-old forward Hirving Lozano finished off a sweeping move to smash the ball low into the corner, and upset Die Mannschaft (The Mannschaft) and its supporters.
The Germans exerted more pressure afterwards and even came close to equalizing late in the half when a free kick by Toni Kroos was touched on to the bar by El Tri’s goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
Die Mannschaft players almost constantly put their Mexican counterparts under pressure after the break, but were not successful to level.
Faghani and his assistants later officiated the Group E match between the Brazil men’s national football team, nicknamed Seleção (The Squad), and Serbia on June 27.
Goals by Paulinho and Thiago Silva steered Brazil to a 2-0 victory over Serbia and into a World Cup second-round meeting with Mexico.
The Iranians also showed great performance during the World Cup round of 16 football match between France and Argentina at the Kazan Arena on June 30, 2018.
The France football team beat Argentina 4-3 to enter quarterfinals.
Moreover, Faghani was an assistant referee during the World Cup quarterfinal match between Uruguay and France at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on July 6, which the latter won 2-0.
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