Argentina is set to go up against France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar. Lionel Messi will be looking to add the most prestigious international trophy to his esteemed collection. Who is stopping him? His Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe will be on the other side.
🚨 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Polish referee Szymon Marciniak will take charge of the World Cup final between France and Argentina.#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/ENsggCmfiy
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) December 15, 2022
Both the heavyweight soccer-playing nations are potentially just 90 minutes away from bagging the coveted trophy. Taking charge of the showpiece event will be referee Szymon Marciniak as announced by FIFA.
Where is Szymon Marciniak from?
Szymon Marciniak hails from Poland. He is a professional soccer referee. Marciniak is considered one of the most highly-rated Polish referees and he will be the man with the whistle at the World Cup 2022 final between Argentina and France.
Szymon Marciniak poprowadzi finał mundialu 😍🇵🇱
𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗪𝗢❗𝗣𝗶𝗲̨𝗸𝗻𝗮 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/E0sVmTO57c
— TVP SPORT (@sport_tvppl) December 15, 2022
The Polish referee was born on January 7, 1981. He became a FIFA-listed official in 2013 after starting refereeing domestic matches in 2009.
What are the controversies surrounding Szymon Marciniak?
A particular controversy surrounding Marciniak took place about a year ago on the occasion of the Arab Cup. The tournament was a sort of dress rehearsal for the FIFA World Cup about to take place in Qatar. Marciniak was officiating a semi-final between Qatar and Algeria.
The Polish official had granted additional time of 9 minutes at the end of normal time, however, the match finally lasted more than 19 minutes. There had been no particular time taking instance apart from a VAR check. Algerian site DZFoot called it “a referee scandal”.
Let’s talk a little bit about referee Marciniak
This is what happened in the Arab Cup semi-finals last year
This ruling wanted to favor and please the host country
FIFA does not see anything pic.twitter.com/M5myNMW9UZ— Samir MATRAH (@samirmatrah) December 15, 2022
According to the gossip surrounding the incident, extra added time was given so that Qatar could equalize. In fact, Qatar did equalize to make it 1-1 in 90+6 but Algeria ultimately scored from a penalty in 90+16 to win the match 2-1.
Szymon Marciniak stats
Marciniak started his career as a soccer referee at the age of 21. He officiated in his first top Polish league match in 2009. Since then he has officiated a number of important matches in his 14-year career.
Including all the lower-level domestic leagues and international matches, Marciniak has taken charge of 550 matches. He has officiated in the UEFA Nations League, UEFA Conference League, UEFA Europa League, and the UEFA Champions League.
The referee for the World Cup final, Szymon Marciniak of Poland, was also the referee for Argentina vs. Australia and France vs. Denmark. pic.twitter.com/dDiZKubj6M
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) December 15, 2022
Most notably, he has taken charge of two FIFA World Cup 2022 games, one each of France and Argentina. He officiated France’s 2-1 win over Denmark in the group stage and Argentina’s 2-1 win over Australia in the Round of 16.
Meanwhile, Qatar referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim will officiate the play-off for third place between Croatia and Morocco.