Who is the referee for Argentina vs Switzerland?

Referee Joao Pinheiro gestures during the UEFA Super Cup 2025 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur at Stadio Friuli — Joao Pinheiro is at his first World Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

We are at the business end of the World Cup now and this is the last of the quarter finals between defending champions Argentina and European underdogs Switzerland

The winner of this quarter final will go on to face England or Norway in the semi-finals in Atlanta on July 15.

Portuguese referee Joao Pinheiro in action at the 2026 World Cup — Joao Pinheiro showed a straight red card in his only other game at this World Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

There are only two games on Saturday and this is the second of the two.

The clash is set to be played at Kasas City Stadium, with kick-off set for 2am UK time.

Argentina players celebrate (Image credit: Getty Images)

The referee for the occasion is Portugal's Joao Pinheiro.

This will be the 38 year old's third game of this World Cup, which is Pinheiro's first-ever major international tournament outing.

His last game was Canada's 1-0 win over South Africa and before that he took charge of Switzerland's somewhat bizarre victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the Swiss running out 4-1 winners despite not opening the scoring until the 74th minute.

That late flurry of goals came after Pinheiro showed Bosnian Tarik Muharemovic a straight red card for a DOGSO offence with ten minutes to go.

Joao Pinheiro — Canada won their first two games before losing to Switzerland to finish second in their group (Image credit: Getty Images)

Pinheiro will be joined by his fellow countrymen Bruno Jesus and Luciano Maia as assistant referees.

In addition, Canadian official Drew Fischer will serve as the fourth official.

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James Andrew is the editor of FourFourTwo, overseeing both the magazine and website. James is an NCTJ qualified journalist and began his career as a news reporter in regional newspapers in 2006 before moving into sport a year later. In 2011 he started a six year stint on the sports desk at the Daily Mail and MailOnline. James was appointed editor of FourFourTwo in December 2019. Across his career James has interviewed the likes of Franco Baresi, Sir Alex Ferguson, David Beckham and Michael Owen. James has been a Fulham season ticket holder since the mid-1990s and enjoys watching them home and away, through promotion and relegation.