François Letexier

François Letexier
Letexier in 2026
Born (1989-04-23) 23 April 1989
Bédée, France
Domestic
Years League Role
2015– Ligue 2 Referee
2016– Ligue 1 Referee
International
Years League Role
2017– FIFA listed Referee

François Letexier[a] (born 23 April 1989) is a French football referee who has officiated in Ligue 1 since January 2016. He has been a FIFA referee since 2017 and is ranked as a UEFA elite category referee, and has taken charge in every major UEFA club and international-level tournament. He is also the youngest referee to officiate a UEFA Euro final, as he took charge of the UEFA Euro 2024 final when he was 35 years old.

Life and career

François Letexier was born on 23 April 1989 in the Bédée commune of Brittany, France.[1][2] He is a lawyer with expertise in rental disputes and illegal occupation.[3] He also works as a court bailiff part-time,[4][5][6] he is married, and a father of two sons.[7][6]

Letexier was put on the FIFA referees list in 2017,[2] and he officiated his first senior international match the following year between Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina.[8] As a UEFA elite category referee, Letexier has officiated in every major club and international-level tournament,[2] including the 2019 UEFA Youth League final between Porto and Chelsea; the 2021 Coupe de France final between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain;[9], the 2021 UEFA Europa League final between Villarreal and Manchester United as VAR, 2023 UEFA Super Cup between Manchester City and Sevilla.[10] and 2026 UEFA Europa League final between SC Freiburg and Aston Villa.[11]. Letexier also refereed three matches of the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, including the quarter-final between Portugal and Italy.[4]

Games officiated

Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 matches

On 23 January 2016,[12] Letexier began officiating in Ligue 1;[2] his first match was between Montpellier and Caen.[12] On 20 August 2022, Letexier refereed a Ligue 2 match between Saint-Étienne and Le Havre, issuing two red cards to three Saint-Étienne players (Anthony Briançon, Mathieu Cafaro and Etienne Green) and a member of the Saint-Étienne staff.[13]

Letexier was the subject of scrutiny following the Week 12 Ligue 1 match between Nice and Nantes on 19 October 2022. In the 19th minute, he did not award a penalty to Nantes when the ball hit both of Mattia Viti's arms within the six-yard box.[2] Near the end of the match, he awarded a penalty to Nice when the ball hit Jean-Charles Castelletto's arm.[14] Letexier issued seven yellow cards in total,[2] and showed red cards to Nantes' Kader Bamba and their goalkeeper Alban Lafont.[15] Days later, after receiving death threats on social media, Letexier defended his decisions in an interview with L'Équipe.[16]

On 27 October 2024, Letexier was at the centre of attention during a Ligue 1 match between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain when he sent off Marseille's Amine Harit for his foul on PSG's Marquinhos. After Letexier's decision to send Harit off caused backlash online, Letexier defended the decision, explaining that he felt that Harit's action put Marquinhos' physical integrity at risk.[17]

Real Madrid CF matches

As of February 2026, Letexier has officiated six matches involving Real Madrid, including the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal knockout tie between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 9 April 2024,[9] which finished 3–3.[18] A year prior to the match, he officiated two other games involving Real Madrid;[19] the first match was against Chelsea,[20] and the second match was against Napoli.[21] He was appointed by UEFA in May 2024 as the fourth official for the UEFA Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid.[22] He also refereed the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Real Madrid and Arsenal in April 2025.[23]

The UEFA appointed Letexier to officiate the first leg of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League knockout match between Benfica and Real Madrid at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon on 17 February 2026.[24][25] After Vinícius Júnior scored a winning goal for Real Madrid, he received a yellow card for celebrating the goal, and in the 52nd minute of the match,[26] he told Letexier that Gianluca Prestianni of Benfica racially abused him.[27][28] In response, Letexier paused the match for eight minutes by crossing his arms, which activated the UEFA's anti-racism protocol.[29][26] Prestianni denied insulting Vinícius, who later criticised the protocol.[27]

UEFA Euro 2024

Weeks after Letexier was selected to officiate at the Men's Olympic Games football tournament,[30] he was chosen as a referee for the UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany.[31] Letexier refereed three games,[32][33][34] as well as the final between England and Spain on 11 July,[35] making him the youngest referee to take charge of a UEFA Euro Final at the age of 35.[36] This beat the previous record of Swedish official Anders Frisk, who was 37 years old when he refereed the UEFA Euro 2000 final.[37] 10 days after the Euro 2024 final, Letexier was assigned the opening round Group D pool match between Japan and Paraguay at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[38]

FIFA Club World Cup 2025

The following year, Letexier was selected to officiate at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, where he took charge of a group stage match between Benfica and Bayern Munich,[39] the Brazilian rivalry between Palmeiras and Botafogo in the round of 16,[40] and a semifinal between Chelsea and Fluminense.[41][42]

2026 FIFA World Cup

Michael Oliver was originally appointed to the match between Ivory Coast and Ecuador, but he pulled out due to a minor injury and was subsequently replaced by Letexier,[43][44] making the 2026 FIFA World Cup the first World Cup Letexier officiated.[2] On 27 June, Letexier refereed another match, this time between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia.[45]

Argentina vs Egypt match

On 7 July 2026, Letexier, assisted by Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni,[2] officiated the round of 16 match between Argentina and Egypt.[46] During the match, he overturned an Egyptian goal by Mostafa Ziko following VAR review when a foul on Lisandro Martínez was committed in the build-up.[47] Though the decision was technically grounded in the IFAB rules governing the VAR protocol,[48] critics noted the incident occurred several seconds before the goal and far from the scoring action.[49][50] Argentina came from behind, after initially going down 2–0, to win the match 3–2 late in the game.[51] However, in the build-up to Enzo Fernández's match-winning goal for Argentina in injury time, Mohamed Salah lost the ball and went to ground after being tackled by Julián Alvarez inside the Argentine penalty area; despite protests from the Egyptian players and staff for an alleged foul on Salah, the goal stood, a decision which drew criticism from some media outlets, who likened the two incidents to one another, despite their different outcomes.[52][53][54][55][56] Letexier's officiating decisions were strongly criticised by the Egyptian team following the match.[57] Egyptian left winger Ziko, who had an apparent goal disallowed, claimed the refereeing was "not fair" and "rigged",[58] while Egyptian manager Hossam Hassan criticised Letexier, claiming he had displayed favoritism towards Argentina.[57] FIFA referee chief Pierluigi Collina defended the performance of the match officials.[59] As a response to online abuse, Letexier deactivated his Instagram account.[47]

Letexier and fellow French official Clément Turpin were sidelined from the remainder of the World Cup, though Jérôme Brisard remained as a VAR because France was in the semifinal, and FIFA removes officials whose countries reach the semifinals to avoid a conflict of interest.[60][61]

Major matches refereed

Date Match Tournament Venue Result Ref
16 August 2023 Manchester City vs. Sevilla 2023 UEFA Super Cup final Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus 1–1 (5–4 on penalties) [10]
14 July 2024 Spain vs. England UEFA Euro 2024 final Olimpiastadion, Berlin 2–1 [37]
20 May 2026 SC Freiburg vs. Aston Villa 2026 UEFA Europa League final Beşiktaş Stadium, Istanbul 0–3 [6]

Honours

Notes

  1. ↑ French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa lətɛksje]

References

  1. ↑ "Football : François Letexier, l'arbitre pressé" [Football: François Letexier, the referee in a hurry.] (in French). Le Point. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hall, Andy (7 July 2026). "Who is François Letexier, the referee for Argentina vs Egypt in the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup?". AS USA.
  3. ↑ "François Letexier - Commissaire de Justice (anciennement Huissier de Justice) Rennes 35". www.nedellec-associes.com. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Super Cup referee Letexier moves forward". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  5. ↑ "EURO 2024 final referee Letexier primed for action". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 13 July 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 "Consistency key for UEFA Europa League final referee François Letexier". 18 May 2026. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  7. ↑ UEFA.com. "EURO 2024 final referee Letexier primed for action | UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  8. ↑ "Bulgaria vs Bosnia and Herzegovina, International Match". Sky Sports. 23 March 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Frenchman Letexier to oversee Madrid-City Champions League clash". AS USA. 7 April 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Manchester City v Sevilla – Match info". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  11. ↑ "Referee teams for 2026 UEFA club competition finals announced". UEFA.com. 11 May 2026. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  12. 1 2 "France » Ligue 1 2015/2016 » 22. Round » Montpellier HSC – SM Caen 1:2". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  13. ↑ "Eight-man Saint-Etienne smashed in club-record loss". Be In Sports. 20 August 2022. Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  14. ↑ Yassine Ben Amor (28 October 2022). "Nantes: François Letexier sort du silence après les polémiques autour de Nice - Nantes!" [Nantes: François Letexier comes out of silence after the controversies around Nice - Nantes!]. Onze Mondial (in French).
  15. ↑ Jones, John; James, Dylan (14 July 2024). "England v Spain referee Francois Letexier 'slapped' Erling Haaland and received death threats". Wales Online.
  16. ↑ "L'arbitre de Nice-Nantes, François Letexier, a porté plainte après avoir été menacé sur les réseaux sociaux" [The Nice-Nantes referee, François Letexier, filed a complaint after being threatened on social networks]. Le Parisien (in French). 28 October 2022. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "Referee Defends Amine Harit's Red Card in OM Defeat to PSG". Onefootball. PSG Talk. 28 October 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  18. ↑ "Real Madrid v Manchester City – Match info". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  19. ↑ "François Letexier to referee Real Madrid-Manchester City". Real Madrid CF. 7 April 2024.
  20. ↑ "François Letexier will referee Champions League clash between Real Madrid and Chelsea". Get French Football News. 10 April 2023.
  21. ↑ Allen, William (29 November 2023). "Who is François Letexier, the referee for Real Madrid - Napoli in the Champions League?". AS USA.
  22. ↑ "Referee teams for 2024 UEFA club competition finals announced". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  23. ↑ "Real Madrid vs. Arsenal - Match info". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 17 April 2025. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  24. ↑ "Who is François Letexier, the referee for the Benfica vs Real Madrid match?". Yahoo Sports. 15 February 2026 – via Foot Africa.
  25. ↑ "66.387 espetadores no Estádio da Luz: Benfica-Real Madrid bate recorde de assistência". Tribuna (in Portuguese). 17 February 2026. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  26. 1 2 "The referee activated the anti-racism protocol due to insults directed at Vini Jr". Real Madrid CF. 17 February 2026.
  27. 1 2 Poole, Harry (17 February 2026). "Real Madrid tie halted over Vinicius racism allegation". BBC Sport.
  28. ↑ "Madrid game at Benfica halted for several minutes as Vinícius says opponent racially insulted him". Associated Press. 17 February 2026. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  29. ↑ Johnson, Dale (18 February 2026). "'It was down to the victim' - is Uefa's racism protocol working?". BBC Sport.
  30. ↑ "FIFA match officials appointed for Olympic Football Tournaments Paris 2024". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 3 April 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  31. ↑ "Referee teams for UEFA EURO 2024 appointed". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  32. ↑ "Full Time Report – Croatia v Albania" (PDF). UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 19 June 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  33. ↑ "Full Time Report – Denmark v Serbia" (PDF). UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  34. ↑ "Full Time Report – Spain v Georgia" (PDF). UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 30 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  35. ↑ "French referee François Letexier picked to handle Spain-England final of Euro 2024". Associated Press. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  36. ↑ "Consistency key for UEFA Europa League final referee François Letexier". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 18 May 2026.
  37. 1 2 "Spain v England – Match info". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  38. ↑ "Match report – Japan v Paraguay" (PDF). Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. 24 July 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  39. ↑ "Match Report: SL Benfica v. FC Bayern München" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 June 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  40. ↑ "Match Report: Palmeiras v. Botafogo" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 28 June 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  41. ↑ "Match officials appointed for landmark FIFA Club World Cup 2025". FIFA. 14 April 2025. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  42. ↑ "Match Report: Fluminense FC v. Chelsea FC" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 8 July 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  43. ↑ Fish, Hal (12 June 2026). "English Referee Michael Oliver Out of 2026 World Cup Match as FIFA Issue Statement". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  44. ↑ Botcherby, Elizabeth (13 June 2026). "Injured referee Oliver to miss World Cup match". BBC.
  45. ↑ "Post match summary report – Group H – Cabo Verde v. Saudi Arabia". FIFA. 27 June 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  46. ↑ "Who is the referee for Argentina vs Egypt?". Yahoo Sports. Four Four Two. 7 July 2026. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  47. 1 2 Mendez, Emmanuel (8 July 2026). "Referee Letexier Responds After Argentina vs. Egypt World Cup Controversy". Athlon Sports.
  48. ↑ "Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Protocol". International Football Association Board. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  49. ↑ "Egypt Goal vs. Argentina Controversially Disallowed After VAR Check". FOX Sports. 7 July 2026.
  50. ↑ Baker, Luke (7 July 2026). "Why was Egypt's second goal against Argentina disallowed by VAR in World Cup last 16?". The Independent.
  51. ↑ Ogden, Mark (7 July 2026). "Egypt boss bemoans 'injustice' after loss to Argentina at World Cup". ESPN. Archived from the original on 7 July 2026. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  52. ↑ Carey, Maura (7 July 2026). "Lionel Messi scores eighth goal in World Cup, takes lead in Golden Boot race". ABC News. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  53. ↑ Engineer, Anushe (7 July 2026). "What was the VAR controversy in the Argentina vs Egypt World Cup match?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  54. ↑ Ogden, Mark; Becherano, Lizzy (7 July 2026). "Messi, Argentina ride VAR drama to complete epic comeback vs. Egypt". www.espn.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  55. ↑ Arnold, Jon (7 July 2026). "Egypt goal against Argentina disallowed by VAR for foul before attacking move". USA TODAY. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  56. ↑ Johnson, Dale (7 July 2026). "World Cup 2026: Egypt fume at 'injustice' and make Messi favouritism claims after exit". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  57. 1 2 Pisani, Sacha (7 July 2026). "Egypt erupt with extraordinary 'rigged' accusations after World Cup drama: 'Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running'". Football360. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  58. ↑ Singh, Pragjyoti (7 July 2026). "Mostafa Ziko Calls the World Cup 'Rigged' After Egypt's Loss to Argentina". Parade Media. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
  59. ↑ "FIFA referee chief Pierluigi Collina defends officials after Egypt's World Cup claims". ESPN. 9 July 2026. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  60. ↑ "Coupe du monde terminée pour François Letexier et Clément Turpin, Jérôme Brisard reste disponible au VAR" [World Cup over for François Letexier and Clément Turpin, Jérôme Brisard still available as VAR]. L'Equipe (in French). 13 July 2026.
  61. ↑ Sri Hari KC, Karthik (13 July 2026). "FIFA Ends World Cup Run for French Referees Who Officiated Argentina's Win Over Egypt". Yahoo Sports. Essentially Sports.
  62. ↑ "IFFHS AWARDS 2024 - FRANCOIS LETEXIER, MEN'S WORLD BEST REFEREE". IFFHS. 24 December 2024. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.