Who is 2022 World Cup final referee Szymon Marciniak? Meet the Polish official set to take charge of Argentina vs France
The 41-year-old will referee the showpiece event on Sunday in his second World Cup. But who is he? Discover the man who will be in charge.
Football
Szymon Marciniak will be the man in the middle on Sunday (18 December) when Paris St-Germain club teammates Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé face each other with their national teams Argentina and France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final.
When the Polish referee steps out to lead the officiating team at Lusail Stadium, it will signify a remarkable comeback to the top of world football refereeing after serious health problems for the 41-year-old.
Who is Szymon Marciniak and what is his refereeing style? What can we expect from him on Sunday? Read on to find out.
Szymon Marciniak refereeing style
Marciniak was born in January 1981, and first took up refereeing when he was sent off playing a game as a youngster.
Speaking to FIFA.com, Marciniak recalls: "We spoke after the game, and (the referee) told me a very important sentence: if you think this is easy work, go and try. You will see. I was thought: why not? So, immediately I went for the course and started refereeing."
After working his way through the ranks, Marciniak took charge of his first Polish Ekstraklasa top-division match in 2009, becoming an international referee two years later.
Now, he will take charge of arguably the biggest game in football. How will he approach handling this World Cup final?
"Both teams have such amazing players, we have to be focused from the first to the very last moment," the Pole says in a video interview with FIFA.
"The players are really very fresh – it's the middle of the season. They want to win, you see the fire in the eyes of the players. I expect a very fast game.
"So concentration, concentration, more concentration – we cannot relax for even one second."
Marciniak's team for the Argentina–France clash will include his long-time assistants Pawel Sokolnick and Tomasz Listkiewicz, while American referee Ismail Elfath will serve as the fourth official.
Another Pole, Tomasz Kwiatkowski, will be the World Cup final Video Assistant Referee.
Szymon Marciniak illness
That Marciniak will take charge at Lusail Stadium on Sunday is in itself incredible considering that barely a year ago, he was only just making a return to top-level officiating.
The Pole missed a year and a half with tachycardia – an irregular fast heartbeat – and was forced to sit out the delayed UEFA 2020 European Championship, which was held from June to July 2021.
"In the beginning, it was very difficult for me and I had to stop refereeing. I missed the UEFA European Championship, which for a referee, who is at their best age, it was a terrible feeling," Marciniak says.
However, he returned to duty last season in 2021/22 and was even appointed to referee a UEFA Champions League semi-final match between Liverpool and Villarreal.
Szymon Marciniak referee history
Marciniak first began officiating Polish top-flight matches in 2009, becoming a FIFA-list international referee in 2011.
He worked his way through the continental and international ranks, getting his first major appointment in 2015 at the Under-21 European Championship, where he refereed the final between Sweden and Portugal.
The following season, he was named referee for the Polish Cup final before working three matches at the senior UEFA 2016 European Championship.
His first FIFA World Cup was in 2018, when he took charge of two matches, off the back of which he was named to his first European club final as he oversaw the 2018 UEFA Super Cup derby between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.
Although he missed EURO 2020, Marciniak is now clearly back at full fitness. He has taken charge of two games so far at Qatar 2022, having refereed both finalist teams along the way – France's 2–1 win over Denmark and Argentina's victory over Australia by the same margin.