France and Spain are set to face each other in a blockbuster World Cup semifinal as stars Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé fight to earn a place in the final.
France, who breezed past Morocco, Paraguay and Sweden in the knockout rounds thanks to their clinical attack meet a Spain side who have under-delivered in terms of expected flair but overcame Austria, Portugal and Belgium to earn their spot in the final four.
To officiate the match, FIFA have elected Salvadoran referee Iván Barton -- who made headlines earlier in the tournament for sending off Paraguay's Miguel Almirón after he covered his mouth when talking to Turkey's Mert Müldür.
Almirón became the first player to be sent off for covering his mouth and speaking during an altercation.
The incident happened in the third minute of added time in the first half of the group-stage match.
Barton, 35, has plenty of experience at the highest level. Most notably, he has officiated several CONCACAF fixtures, including the Champions Cup and Gold Cup finals.
France v Spain will be his fourth 2026 World Cup game, having also overseen Japan's group-stage draw with Sweden and Switzerland's penalty shootout win over Colombia in the round of 16.
He has given 11 yellow cards this tournament.
Barton has never overseen a game that involved Spain, but was the referee for France's Olympic Games defeat in 2021 when they lost 4-0 to hosts Japan.
During that disastrous match for France, Barton sent off Randal Kolo Muani for a studs-up challenge on Japan midfielder Koji Miyoshi.
