England vs USA takes place on Friday in the 2022 World Cup. But who is the referee taking charge of the Group B fixture?
The Three Lions got their tournament off to a winning start on Monday, beating Iran 6-2.
The referee for the clash was Brazilian official Raphael Claus, and despite him handing out a total of 114 yellow cards across his 24 games in Brazil's top flight over 2022, England did manage to get through the match without a single booking.
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United States, meanwhile, played out a 1-1 draw against Wales, with Timothy Weah giving Gregg Berhalter's team the lead in the first half.
The two sides will battle it out at the Al Bayt Stadium, which hosted the opening match of this year's World Cup between Qatar and Ecuador. It has a capacity of 68,895, according to FIFA's official website, although capacities for each game may vary.
Here are the confirmed match officials for England vs USA.
England vs USA: Who is the match referee, and other officials?
England vs USA will be officiated by Venezuelan referee Jesus Valenzuela, who will be taking charge of his first World Cup game. He is the only match referee from Venezuela at the tournament.
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The 38-year-old does have past experience of major tournaments. He has taken charge of matches in the last two iterations of the Copa America. He was in the middle for Argentina's penalty shootout victory over Colombia in the semi-finals of the 2021 edition.
In addition, Valenzuela also officiated during the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
According to Transfermarkt, he has taken charge of 222 games during his career, handing out 1087 yellow cards - an average of nearly 4.9 cards per game.
Here are the other officials (as per Law 5 - The Ref):
- Assistant Referees: Jorge Urrego (Venezuela), Tulio Moreno (Venezuela)
- Fourth Official: Yoshimi Yamashita (Japan)
- VAR Official: Juan Soto (Venezuela)
- Assistant VAR Officials: Nicolas Gallo (Colombia), Diego Bonfa (Argentina), Julio Bascunan (Chile), Ezequiel Braislovsky (Argentina)
Topics: England, United States, Football World Cup, Qatar
Ryan Smart