IFFHS names the world's best football referee of 2025

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) has released its ranking of the world's top ten football referees for 2025. Frenchman Clément Turpin claimed the top spot, continuing his run as one of the planet's elite referees since 2019.

• See also: Nigeria — Tunisia Prediction, H2H and Probable Lineups — 27 December 2025

Turpin confidently led the rankings, while the second position was shared by another Frenchman, François Letexier—the world's best referee last year—and Polish official Szymon Marciniak, who has twice won this award. The top five also includes Romanian István Kovács and Englishman Michael Oliver.

IFFHS Top 10 Referees in the World for 2025:

1. Clément Turpin (France) — 65 points
2. François Letexier (France) — 55
3. Szymon Marciniak (Poland) — 55
4. István Kovács (Romania) — 54
5. Michael Oliver (England) — 53
6. Felix Zwayer (Germany) — 45
7. Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia) — 41
8. Alireza Faghani (Australia) — 25
9. Maurizio Mariani (Italy) — 25
10. Sandro Schärer (Switzerland) — 12