The FIFA World Cup 2026 games will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Two Qatari referees are poised to make an official appearance at the upcoming FIFA World Cup 26.

Alkass Digital reported on Wednesday that FIFA revealed its preliminary list of Asia’s referees for the games set to take place in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Alkass added that two Qatari referees were among those named in the preliminary list: Abdulrahman Al Jassim and Salman Ahmad Falahi.

Al Jassim has been a FIFA referee since 2013, his international career has included officiating at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea. In 2018, he served as a video assistant referee at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

In 2022, on home soil, Al Jassim made history when he became the first Qatari to officiate World Cup matches — starting with the group stage at the United States versus Wales game.

Al Jassim was the head referee during the December Croatia versus Morocco third-place playoff. Qatar’s Taleb A Marri and Saoud Ahmed Al Maqaled also officiated at the match.

Before the start of the historic games in Qatar, he attributed his success to the intensive training and courses provided by the Qatar Football Association.

“The referee department — they did everything,” he said during an interview in November 2022. “They started our development [with] courses… [They] helped referees to be in good shape [and] to be top in the world.”

Al Jassim’s colleague, Salman Falahi, began his international career in 2017 when he became a FIFA referee.

His portfolio includes officiating the AFC Champions League in 2022, and he has since officiated at the 2022 U-23 Asian Championship as well as the Gulf Cup in 2023.