FIFA appointed Wilton Pereira Sampaio, a Brazilian referee, to referee the opening game of the World Cup, between Mexico and South Africa, this Thursday (11), at 4pm (Brasília time), in Mexico City. The match is valid for group A. The judge from Goiás will be accompanied by his fellow countryman Bruno Pires and Bruno Boschilia, from Paraná, both assistants.
Completing the debut team are Colombian Nicolás Gallo, who will be the video referee (VAR), and Paraguayans Juan Gabriel Benitez and Eduardo Cardozo, who will act, respectively, as fourth referee and reserve assistant.
Pereira Sampaio is one of three Brazilians called up for the World Cup as main referees — the other two are Raphael Claus and Ramon Abatti Abel.
At 44 years old, he reaches the third World Cup of his career after refereeing 26 games in 2026.
In the 2022 edition, in Qatar, he led English fans to fury due to decisions made in the quarter-finals against France, in which the British ended up eliminated, and he was even considered as referee of the decision, a position that ended up occupied by the Polish Szymon Marciniak.
“I really can’t even explain how bad his performance was. I don’t want to go into that too much, because in the end I could be fined,” said defender Harry Maguire at the time. The French, even victorious in that 2-1, were not satisfied either. “I found the refereeing a little limited,” said Frenchman Rabiot.
Criticisms from different Brazilian clubs are also common. In 2023, the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) even removed him after an unmarked penalty for Grêmio in a match against Corinthians. Sampaio returned to activities after a month, in a match in series C of the Brazilian Championship.
In 2025, he was remembered for his record as referee of the final of the amateur championship in the city of Várzea Paulista, hours after acting in the match between Flamengo and São Paulo, in Rio de Janeiro.
Pereira Sampaio’s definition in the opening game changes the ranking of Brazilian referees who worked the most in the FIFA tournament. In 2022, he debuted as main referee in World Cups and served on four occasions.
The tendency is that, if he performs well, he will be selected for more matches in the tournament that will be played in Mexico, Canada and the United States.
The national whistle record is held by Carlos Eugênio Simon from Rio Grande do Sul, who went to three World Cups (2002, 2006 and 2010) and was selected on seven occasions. Behind him is Sandro Meira Ricci (6 games, in 2014 and 2018).
Now the one who will be right behind Sampaio, with 4, is José Roberto Wright, who went to the Italian Cup in 1990.
With three games are Arnaldo Cesar Coelho (1978 and 1982), Romualdo Arpi Filho (1986) and Gilberto de Almeida Rego (1930).
In 2018, Sampaio worked as a video referee (VAR), but, on the field, he was selected for two group stage duels (Netherlands 2 x 0 Senegal and Poland 2 x 0 Saudi Arabia), one in the round of 16 (Netherlands 3 x 1 United States) and one in the quarters (France 2 x 1 England).
In the current season, Sampaio played in ten matches in the Brazilian Championship. Born in Goiânia, the 44-year-old referee commanded the following duels:
- São Paulo 2 x 1 Flamengo
- Vasco 1 x 1 Chapecoense
- Coritiba 0 x 1 São Paulo
- Remo 0 x 2 Fluminense
- Chapecoense 0 x 0 Corinthians
- Botafogo 3 x 2 Mirassol
- Santos 2 x 3 Fluminense
- Rowing 0 x 1 Cruise
- Flamengo 2 x 2 Vasco
- Fluminense 2 x 1 São Paulo
