Polish referee Szymon Marciniak will take charge of Saturday's Group E European Championship game between Belgium and Romania.
The match will be the 43-year-old's first appearance at the tournament in Germany, which will kick off at 9 p.m. in Cologne.
Marciniak will be assisted by fellow Poles, Tomasz Listkiewicz and Adam Kupsik. Lithuanian Donatas Rumšas will be the technical referee, and Tomasz Kwiatkowski will be in charge of the VAR system.
Marciniak is returning to the European Championships for the first time in eight years. In 2016, he refereed three matches, and he was absent in 2021 due to health reasons.
Marciniak will be assisted by fellow Poles, Tomasz Listkiewicz and Adam Kupsik. Lithuanian Donatas Rumšas will be the technical referee, and Tomasz Kwiatkowski will be in charge of the VAR system.
Marciniak is returning to the European Championships for the first time in eight years. In 2016, he refereed three matches, and he was absent in 2021 due to health reasons.
The referee is widely considered to be one of the world’s elite officials. He took charge of Argentina-France in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar. He officiated five matches at the 2018 World Cup. And more recently, he was the man in the middle for the 2023 Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan.
Like all referees, he has had moments when he has come in for criticism, most notably in this year's Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, with the Germans fuming at some of his decisions.
Saturday’s match in Cologne is likely to be an intense affair after Belgium surprisingly lost their first match with Slovakia and will be desperate for a result. The Romanians, on the other hand, sprung their own surprise, impressively defeating Ukraine 3-0.
Like all referees, he has had moments when he has come in for criticism, most notably in this year's Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, with the Germans fuming at some of his decisions.
Saturday’s match in Cologne is likely to be an intense affair after Belgium surprisingly lost their first match with Slovakia and will be desperate for a result. The Romanians, on the other hand, sprung their own surprise, impressively defeating Ukraine 3-0.
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