Juan Gabriel Calderón

Juan Gabriel Calderón
Calderón in 2019
Born Juan Gabriel Calderón Pérez
(1987-04-11) 11 April 1987
La Amistad District, Costa Rica
Domestic
Years League Role
2013–present Liga FPD
International
Years League Role
2017–present FIFA listed
  • Referee

Juan Gabriel Calderón Pérez (born 11 April 1987[1]) is a Costa Rican football referee who has been on the FIFA International Referees List since 2017.

Career

Calderón was born in La Amistad District, Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica, the son of coffee production workers.[1][2] He began his experiences in refereeing by accompanying his father to see matches in the neighbourhood. Calderón liked the idea of becoming a referee and began overseeing amateur games in the neighbourhood in the early 2000s, when he was 14 years old.[1] In 2006, Calderón became a league referee and joined the Commission of Referees in 2010.[1]

Calderón's professional career started as an assistant referee in Segunda División.[1] In 2013, he refereed his first match as a central official in the Liga FPD and earned his FIFA badge in 2017.[1][3] Calderón has taken part in five editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the latest being the edition of 2025 in Canada and the US, where he oversaw a semifinal game between Mexico and Honduras.[4][2] In 2023, Calderón was selected for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina, where he led his most advanced game in the tournament in a quarter-final match between Israel U21 and Brazil U20 in San Juan.[5]

Other international tournaments for Calderón include the Leagues Cup, friendly matches, and CONCACAF qualification games for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[4][2] In April 2026, Calderón was chosen as the referee of the Costa Rican Cup final between Sporting F.C. and Deportivo Saprissa in the Estadio Edgardo Baltodano Briceño.[6][7]

On 9 April 2026, Calderón was selected by FIFA to be a central referee at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first Costa Rican central referee at a World Cup since 2002, when William Mattus participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan.[1][8][9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Solano, Hermes (10 April 2026). "Árbitro Juan Gabriel Calderón recibió regalo de cumpleaños adelantado con el nombramiento al Mundial: "Es la culminación del trabajo de muchos años"". El Observador (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "Semblanza de Juan Gabriel Calderón, uno de los réferis ticos dedicado exclusivamente al arbitraje" (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  3. ↑ "Costa Rican Football Association | International match officials". Inside FIFA. 1 January 2026. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  4. 1 2 Cardoso, Javier (2 July 2025). "Así es Juan Gabriel Calderón, el árbitro que dirigirá el México vs Honduras de semifinales de la Copa Oro 2025". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "3-2. Israel echa a Brasil del Mundial y se mete en semifinales". Infobae (in Spanish). 3 June 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  6. ↑ "Árbitro mundialista pitará la final del Torneo de Copa". Diario Extra (in Spanish). 15 April 2026. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  7. ↑ "La final de Copa será dirigida por árbitro mundialista". UNAFUT (in Spanish). 15 April 2026. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  8. ↑ Montenegro, Milton (13 April 2026). "¿Cuántos partidos podría pitar Juan Gabriel Calderón en el Mundial 2026? Analistas explican el panorama". La Nación (Costa Rica) (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  9. ↑ Gómez Muñóz, Keish (9 April 2026). "Costa Rica vuelve a tener árbitro en un Mundial tras 24 años". ESPN (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2026.
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