The referee for tonight’s Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia match is Francois Letexier, an official from France.
One side or the other can still progress either from second place or as one of the best third-placed sides.
But those two things are mutually exclusive, and at least one of them will be going home from the World Cup after the 90 minutes is over.
Referee confirmed for Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia
The game is set to kick off at 7pm local time (1am UK time) at Houston’s NRG Stadium, with Uruguay vs Spain taking place simultaneously south of the border, down Mexico way.
Running around with the whistle for Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia is France’s Francois Letexier, who is regarded as one of Europe’s top referees.
37-year-old Letexier was the youngest ever referee to take charge of a Euros final when he oversaw Spain’s victory over England two years ago.
He also refereed Aston Villa’s Europa League final victory over Freiburg last month.
This will be Letexier’s second game of the competition, with his previous outing coming in Ivory Coast’s 1-0 victory over Ecuador.
Two more Frenchmen, Mehdi Rahmouni and Cyril Mugnier, will be the assistants with the flags (if only there were a name for that) in an important moment of representation for people named Cyril.
The fourth official will be Abongile Tom from South Africa, with his compatriot Zahele Siwela serving as the reserve official.
Details of the VAR officials are still yet to be confirmed.