The choice of Wilton Pereira Sampaio for the opening game of the World Cup will slightly change the ranking of Brazilian referees who have worked most times in the FIFA tournament.
Mexico x South Africa, at 4pm (Brasília time) this Thursday (11), a duel that will mark the opening of the World Cup, will be the fifth match in which Sampaio will be the judge.
In 2022, he debuted on the field in the World Cup and played on four occasions. The tendency is that if they perform well, they will be selected for more matches in the tournament that will be played in Mexico, Canada and the United States.
The national whistle record belongs to 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 (six games in 2014 and 2018).
Now the one who will be right behind Sampaio, with four, is José Roberto Wright, who went to the Italian Cup in 1990.
With three games are Arnaldo Cesar Coelho (78 and 82), Romualdo Arpi Filho (86) and Gilberto de Almeida Rego (1930).
MORE THAN 400 GAMES
At 44 years old, Sampaio, from Goiás, has 440 matches in national championships, such as Série A, B, C, Copa do Brasil, among others.
His first game as main judge in a national duel was in 2004, in Series C. His growth was little by little. In 2005, he took charge of two Série A matches, both for Brasiliense, at home, against Fortaleza and Juventude.
His participation began to be highlighted in 2010, when he practically stopped being fourth referee and became main judge.
Among (inevitable) collections of complaints after more than 440 games, their main national matches were decisions. Two Brazilian Super Cups (titles that went to Flamengo and Palmeiras, in 2020 and 2023, respectively). Coincidentally, both teams have a series of complaints against the Goiás referee.
Sampaio also refereed three Brazilian Cup decisions involving Corinthians. In 2018 and 2022, Cruzeiro and Flamengo came out on top. Last year, the São Paulo club was champion over Vasco.
In 2018, he was one of the pioneers to work on VAR, a situation that led him to stay in the booths at the World Cup that same year, in Qatar.
MORE CUP
In 2018, Sampaio worked as a video referee (VAR), but four years later, on the field, he was selected for two group stage duels (Netherlands 2-0 Senegal and Poland 2-0 Saudi Arabia). His performance pleased FIFA. Thus, there were two more matches: one of the round of 16 (Netherlands 3 to 1 United States) and one of the quarters (France 2 to 1 England).
In the latter, in the European classic, the Brazilian referee displeased both teams. The English criticized Sampaio for failing to commit fouls, despite scoring two penalties for England. “I really can’t even explain how bad his performance was. I don’t want to get into it too much, because in the end I could be fined,” defender Maguire said at the time.
“I found the refereeing a little limited,” said Frenchman Rabiot.
2026
This season, Sampaio played in ten matches in the Brazilian Championship.
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
