Szymon Marciniak

Szymon Marciniak (Polish: [ˈʂɨmɔn marˈt͡ɕiɲak]; born 7 January 1981) is a Polish professional football referee. He is considered one of the most highly rated international referees of his generation. He refereed the 2022 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and France on 18 December 2022 in Lusail, Qatar, as well as the 2018 UEFA Super Cup between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. In 2023, he was named "The World's Best Referee" by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). Marciniak was born in 1981 in Płock, Poland. The first sport he practiced in his youth was cycling. He changed this sport for football at the age of 15. He played in the junior squad of Wisła Płock claiming the fourth place at the Polish Junior Championships with the team. He also briefly played for the German Regionalliga club VfB Annaberg-Buchholz. He began his career as a football referee at the age of 21. Initially, he combined refereeing football matches with playing as an amateur footballer. In 2006, he switched to working as a football referee professionally. He refereed his first match in the top Polish professional league in 2009 at the GKS Bełchatów stadium (match between GKS Bełchatów and Odra Wodzisław Śląski). Since then, he has refereed more than 300 matches in Ekstraklasa having been appointed the head referee in the 2016 Polish Cup final match as well as the 2017 Polish SuperCup.