German VAR Referee Bastian Dankert to Oversee 2026 World Cup Final Video Review

The 2026 FIFA World Cup final, scheduled for Sunday, will be officiated by Slabko Vinicic, widely regarded as the best referee globally. However, the role of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) team is also crucial, led by German referee Bastian Dankert. Dankert, who has been a Bundesliga referee since 2014, is considered one of the top VAR officials worldwide. His assistants for the final will be Nicolas Gallo from Colombia and Hamias Al Marri from Qatar.

Dankert has extensive experience in major tournaments, having served as a VAR official in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and officiated nine matches as VAR in the recent European Championship, where he earned a reputation as the best in his field. Despite this, he faced criticism for awarding a controversial penalty to England against the Netherlands during Euro 2020. In the current World Cup, he has refereed three group stage matches and participated as a VAR assistant in others.

Throughout the Bundesliga season, Dankert has been the VAR referee and once admitted to a significant error when he awarded a penalty to Timo Werner after a dive, for which he apologized. Notably, Dankert was the VAR official during Argentina's opening match loss to Saudi Arabia in the 2022 World Cup, where Argentina received an early penalty following a justified VAR intervention. It is also worth mentioning that Dankert has not officiated any matches involving Spain in the last two World Cups.

His appointment as the lead VAR official in the 2026 final highlights the importance of video technology in modern football and the trust FIFA places in his judgment despite past controversies.