Michael Oliver was taken off as the referee for the World Cup match just hours before it was about to start, a statement said.
Michael Oliver will miss his first match of the 2026 World Cup because of an injury.
The experienced Premier League referee was set to oversee the game between Ivory Coast and Ecuador in Philadelphia early Monday morning. But the 41-year-old has had to step back after getting a minor injury that will keep him out of the first round of matches.
Thankfully, it’s only a small setback, so Oliver might be able to referee another game next week if he feels better in time.
He’ll be replaced by Francois Letexier from Ligue 1, who recently refereed the Europa League final when Aston Villa beat Freiburg 3-0 last month.
A FIFA statement said: “Due to a minor injury, referee Michael Oliver (ENG) has been replaced by Francois Letexier (FRA). Oliver is expected to be available for selection again soon.”
Oliver was going to referee the first match of Group E, with assistants Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring. Because of his injury, the whole referee team has been changed. Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni will now assist Letexier. Saudi officials Khalid Alturais and Mohammed Alabakrv will keep their roles as fourth official and reserve assistant.
Oliver has refereed three World Cup matches before, all at Qatar 2022, including a big quarter-final between Croatia and Brazil. He’s one of six English referees at this World Cup in North America, along with Anthony Taylor and 52 others.
Since 2010, Oliver has been refereeing in the Premier League and joined UEFA’s top referees list in 2018. He has also been in charge of two FA Cup finals during his career.
Last season, Oliver earned about £250,000 for refereeing across different competitions. This summer, he could earn another nice payday, with £75,000 for referees who make it to the end of the tournament.
Oliver is a lifelong Newcastle United fan and can’t referee any of their matches. He even played for Newcastle at junior level and told the press in 2019 that he “had a bit of talent” but “didn’t like putting in the hard work as a player.”
Because he supports Newcastle, Oliver also isn’t allowed to referee Sunderland games, their big local rivals.
He explained to the Daily Mail, “We have to declare if we support any club or if family members work at a club. You can’t do any match with that team, and I can’t do Sunderland either, for obvious reasons.”
Oliver added, “If Newcastle needed a point to stay up, and the team they were competing with was Villa, I couldn’t referee Villa’s game either. I wouldn’t want to. It’s just not worth the hassle.”