Who is the referee for Belgium vs Egypt?

An aerial general view of Lumen Field at sunset after the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group B match between Seattle Sounders FC and Paris Saint-Germain FC at Lumen Field on June 23, 2025 in Seattle, Washington — Seattle Stadium will host Belgium and Egypt's Group G clash (Image credit: Getty Images)

Belgium are gearing up to take on Egypt in the two teams' Group G opener on Monday.

Seattle's Lumen Field - renamed the Seattle Stadium for this World Cup - will play host to this Europe vs Africa clash, which is an 8pm kick-off, UK time.

After a goal-packed day of action on Sunday, there will be another host of attacking talents on display for this clash, which pits the Red Devils, who are ranked at number 10 in the FIFA world rankings, against the Pharaohs in 30th.

Referee confirmed for Belgium vs Egypt

Belgium failed to make it out of their group in Qatar four years ago, but Rudi Garcia's squad have a tantalising mix of youth and experience in their squad and will be confident of making an impact in the knock-out stages this time out.

Egypt are back on the world stage after their failure to make the 2022 tournament and will have placed their hopes on Mohamed Salah, who is likely playing in his final World Cup.

Kevin De Bruyne of Belgium during the International Friendly match between Belgium v Tunisia at the Koning Boudewijn Stadium. — Kevin De Bruyne will also be in action (Image credit: Joris Verwijst/Soccrates/Getty Images)

Another Premier League legend is set to be on the pitch as well tonight, as Belgium playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is also likely to be making his World Cup swansong in this tournament.

But who will be the man in the middle for this appetising clash?

That would be Brazilian official Ramon Abatti, who will take charge for the north-western clash in the United States.

The 36-year-old Abatti is at his first World Cup but has plenty of big-match experience, having refereed the 2024 Olympic final between Spain and France at the Parc des Princes.

He was also on duty during last summer's Club World Cup, where he oversaw Real Madrid's wins over Borussia Dortmund and Pachuca, plus Manchester City's victory over Wydad, during which he sent off Rico Lewis.

Mo Salah in action for Egypt at the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations — Egypt will be looking to Mohamed Salah for inspiration this summer (Image credit: Getty Images)

Abatti will be supported by an all-South American team, as his compatriots Danilo Manis and Rafael Alves will be his assistant referees.

Peruvian Kevin Ortega will be on fourth official duty, with the reserve assistant referee by Michael Orue, who is also from Peru.

Lumen Field's World Cup capacity sits at 66,925, as these two sides set out their stall before the next Group G match between Iran and New Zealand which takes place in Los Angeles shortly after the conclusion of this contest.

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For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.