Ismail Elfath (FIFA Referee) Height, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ismail Elfath

• Ismail Elfath was born in Casablanca, Morocco. His mother died when he was eight years old.

• After her death, his grandfather raised him in a house that held nearly sixteen relatives.

• In 2001, at the age of eighteen, he won a Diversity Immigrant Visa and moved to the United States. He carried barely any money and knew very little English.

• The US government gave him a choice between Texas and Indianapolis. He picked Austin, mainly for the warm weather and because the University of Texas had a good name.

• Elfath joined the University of Texas at Austin to study mechanical engineering and completed his degree in 2006.

• He then took up a job in IT corporate sales and settled into life in Austin. He later became a naturalized US citizen and still lives in the city today.

• His path into refereeing began from the amateur soccer level itself. He played in local leagues in Austin, including one called Austin Lightning, and often argued with referees over decisions that went against his team.

• A league organiser eventually told him to try refereeing himself, and Elfath took up the offer. He officiated his first match in 2005, an under eight youth game at Town and Country Sports in North Austin.

• As a student running short on money, he took up eight to ten games a day for the earnings. He moved from youth matches to high school games and then to Austin Aztex semi professional fixtures at House Park.

• He became a full time professional referee in 2009. He served as a fourth official in MLS in 2011 and made his MLS refereeing debut on 19 May 2012.

• In 2013, Elfath took charge of the USL final between Orlando City and Charlotte Eagles. In August 2016, he refereed a match between New York Red Bulls II and Orlando City B.

• This became the first game in the world where an on field Video Assistant Referee review was tested. FIFA added his name to its list of international referees that same year.

• In 2018, Elfath left his sales job to take up refereeing full time, even though it meant a pay cut. The move opened up international assignments for him.

• That year, he officiated the final of the 2019 FIFA Under 20 World Cup in Poland, where Ukraine beat South Korea 3-1, along with American assistants Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins.

• He also took charge of matches at the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup and the semifinal of the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar.

• In July 2021, he refereed three matches at the Tokyo Olympics, including a quarterfinal between hosts Japan and New Zealand.

• FIFA later named him one of two Concacaf referees for the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

• On 18 November 2020, MLS and the Professional Referee Organization named Elfath Referee of the Year for the first time.

• He had already received nominations in 2013 and 2017. He had also refereed the MLS is Back Tournament final that year.

• He won the award with 51.04 percent of the vote, cast by club staff, media and players.In 2022, FIFA narrowed an original pool of around 350 international referees down to 36 for the World Cup in Qatar.

• Elfath was the only American picked among them, and he became the eighth American referee ever to take charge of a World Cup.

• He made his tournament debut in the group match between Portugal and Ghana. He gave Portugal a penalty in the 63rd minute, which Cristiano Ronaldo converted, and Portugal won the match 3 2.

• Ghana’s coach later called the decision soft. In the group match between Cameroon and Brazil, Vincent Aboubakar scored a stoppage time winner for Cameroon and pulled off his shirt in celebration.

• Elfath showed him a second yellow card and sent him off. FIFA then gave him the round of 16 clash between Japan and Croatia, which Croatia won on penalties.

• He was named fourth official for the final between Argentina and France, along with Kathryn Nesbitt, Kyle Atkins and Corey Parker.

• This made them the first group of Americans to work a World Cup final together. Messi scored twice that night as Argentina lifted the trophy on penalties.

• On 14 October 2022, MLS and PRO announced Elfath as Referee of the Year for the second time in three years.

• He got 36.03% of the vote, ahead of Allen Chapman and Armando Villarreal.In 2023, Elfath refereed the Leagues Cup final, where Inter Miami beat Nashville SC on penalties, with Messi scoring the only goal for his side.

• In 2024, while representing Concacaf at the Copa America, he suffered a knee injury that needed two surgeries and kept him off the field for over a year.

• He returned in 2025 after clearing FIFA’s fitness test, which requires forty timed seventy five metre sprints with only eighteen seconds of rest between each one.

• FIFA then picked him for the 2025 Intercontinental Cup final between PSG and Flamengo. In December 2025,

• FIFA trimmed its list of North American World Cup candidate referees by three names, and Elfath’s name stayed on the list.

• In January 2026, he travelled to Rio de Janeiro for a final selection seminar, where doctors checked his knee and sports scientists tracked his heart rate and breathing under simulated match conditions.

• Before the World Cup began, Elfath took charge of the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup final between Toluca and Tigres.

• FIFA soon confirmed his selection for the 2026 World Cup in North America, again along with Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins.

• On 14 June 2026, he led the tournament’s first US based officiating crew in the group match between Netherlands and Japan at Dallas Stadium, and the game ended 2-2.

• Fellow Americans Kyle Atkins, Corey Parker and Armando Villarreal worked with him, along with Mexican officials Katia Garcia and Sandra Ramirez.

• This crew became the first in the tournament made up entirely of officials from the two host nations.

• His next assignment was the group match between Uruguay and Spain, where he sent off Uruguay’s Agustin Canobbio in stoppage time for a dangerous challenge.

• Spain won 1-0, and Uruguay crashed out of the tournament. In the round of 16, he took charge of Brazil against Norway.

• In the tenth minute, VAR official Tatiana Guzman called him to the pitch side monitor, and he awarded a penalty to Brazil.

• He gave Brazil a second penalty in stoppage time as well, but Norway held on to win 2 1 and advance.

• FIFA then handed him the semifinal between England and Argentina. This made him the first American referee ever to take charge of a World Cup semifinal.

• He issued four yellow cards in that match, and Argentina went through to the final.

• Elfath married and has three sons. He stands six feet four inches tall and keeps up a strict fitness routine, since referees are estimated to cover six to eight miles in a single match.

• He has stayed active in Austin’s Muslim community over the years and has served on the boards of the Muslim American Leadership Alliance and the Austin Soccer Foundation.