FIFA appoints referee who never loses to Messi for England match

Ismail Elfat’s presence on the field means that Lionel Messi’s team is guaranteed to win! Although he is a familiar face in Major League Soccer (MLS) to football fans, he is also an absolute favorite for Messi in the Argentine jersey. If you turn the page of statistics, you can see that Elfat has not lost a single match in which he has played for club or international football.

Argentina will face England in a high-voltage World Cup semi-final on Wednesday. The controversy has been brewing ever since Elfat was named as the referee for this crucial match. FIFA’s decision has left English fans furious. Many on social media are directly claiming that this poor referee was chosen to pave the way for Messi to win another World Cup trophy!

Moroccan-born American Ismail Elfat will referee the England-Argentina match, along with two other Americans, Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins, as assistant referees on the field.

Several online media outlets have already looked at statistics to show that Messi’s team has been 100% successful in matches in which Elfat has played in any role. Messi has had the last laugh in all five of those matches, both club and national team.

Looking back on the memories, Elfat’s name was also associated with the night of the greatest success of Messi’s career in the blue and white jersey of the Albiceleste. On the night of that thrilling World Cup final in Qatar in 2022, Elfat was the fourth official in Argentina’s dramatic tie-breaker victory after a 3-3 draw against France. He witnessed Messi’s epic World Cup victory from close quarters.

The following year, Messi moved to the US club Inter Miami. He also became Messi’s ‘lucky charm’ in American domestic football. The referee, who won the MLS Referee of the Year award twice, served as the main referee in the 2023 Leagues Cup final. Messi lifted the first trophy in Inter Miami’s history by defeating Nashville SC in a tiebreaker.

Elfat has been a busy referee at the current World Cup, having successfully refereed the group stage matches between Japan and the Netherlands and Spain and Uruguay. He also refereed Norway’s incredible win over Brazil in the last 16.

The two superpowers will face off in a thrilling final at 1 am Bangladesh time on Thursday. The winner of this match will face Spain in the final stage of the title next Monday in East Rutherford, New Jersey (the final match will be held at 1 a.m. Bangladesh time on Monday).