England vs. Ghana: Who is the referee and VAR for 2026 World Cup Group L clash?

England and Ghana square off for their second Group L fixture at the 2026 World Cup at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Wednesday.

The Three Lions kick-started their campaign with a 4-2 victory over Croatia last week courtesy of goals from Harry Kane (2), Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.

As for the Black Stars, they left it late to edge past Panama by a 1-0 scoreline, with Caleb Yirenkyi scoring a 95th-minute winner.

Ahead of this matchday two contest, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the referee and VAR appointments for England vs. Gnana.

Who is the referee for England vs. Ghana?

FIFA have confirmed that referee Said Martinez will be the man in the middle for the Group L battle between England and Ghana.

The 34-year-old is from Honduras and has already officiated one 2026 World Cup match, handing out three yellow cards and awarding a penalty in the 1-1 draw between Qatar and Switzerland.

Martinez has shown a total 691 yellow cards and 30 red cards in the 166 games he has officiated in his career, at an average of 4.16 yellow cards per game.

In recent years, he has officiated major CONCACAF fixtures, including the Gold Cup finals in 2021 and 2023, the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League final and more recently the 2025 CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals.

Said Martinez’s record in England and Ghana matches

Martinez has never officiated an England or Ghana game in his refereeing career, with the majority of his matches officiated in Central and North America.

He has never officiated against an African nation, while Switzerland - as mentioned previously - and Bosnia-Herzegovina are the only two senior European nations he has ever encountered, overseeing a 0-0 friendly draw between the latter and USA back in 2018.

Who is the VAR for England vs. Ghana?

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for this match is Guillermo Pacheco, the only Mexican among this group of officials.

Ning Ma of China will act as the fourth official, while Honduran pair Walter Lopez and Christian Ramirez will be assistant referees supporting Martinez.