Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev to oversee France-Paraguay last-16 clash

FIFA has entrusted the refereeing of the France-Paraguay last-16 tie, Saturday in Philadelphia, to Uzbek official Ilgiz Tantashev, an official with limited experience at major world football tournaments.

At 42 years old, Tantashev has primarily officiated in Asia: the Uzbek championship, AFC Champions League and World Cup qualifiers. At this 2026 World Cup, he has only refereed two group-stage matches — Scotland-Morocco (0-1) and Algeria-Austria (3-3). The Scots had criticized some of his decisions, accusing him of letting play go too much.

While his name is unknown to the general public, several France squad players know him nonetheless. Désiré Doué, Michael Olise, Manu Koné, Rayan Cherki, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Maghnes Akliouche crossed paths with him during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Tantashev refereed the quarter-final between Thierry Henry’s young French side and Argentina in Bordeaux, a match in which he handed out nine yellow cards and one red, against Frenchman Enzo Millot.

The context of this last-16 tie recalls a memorable precedent for Didier Deschamps. In 1998, he was part of Aimé Jacquet’s Blues who secured their qualification against Paraguay — and its emblematic goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert — thanks to a golden goal from Laurent Blanc. France had really struggled then. In Philadelphia, under forecast extreme heat, Kylian Mbappé and his teammates could once again be in for a battle.