ZURICH (DA) — Curaçao-born referee Danny Makkelie has been selected by FIFA for the 2026 World Cup, returning to football’s biggest stage as one of the officials for the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Makkelie will again work with assistants Hessel Steegstra and Jan de Vries, while Rob Dieperink and Dennis Higler were appointed as video assistant referees.
For Makkelie, born Jan. 28, 1983, in Willemstad, it will be his third World Cup overall and his second as an on-field referee. He previously served as a VAR at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and was part of the refereeing team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. FIFA-listed since 2011, Makkelie is widely regarded as one of the leading officials in international football.
“It is wonderful that we have been selected for the World Cup,” Makkelie said. “A global final tournament is the very highest you can achieve. To be allowed to referee there again is a huge honor.”
He said the appointment reflected years of work by the group around him.
“This is something we have worked extremely hard for together over the past four years,” Makkelie said. “We have to keep doing that. First we want to finish the season well, and only then comes the World Cup.”
FIFA said it selected 52 referees, 88 assistant referees and 30 video match officials from all six confederations and 50 member associations for the expanded tournament, which will feature 48 teams and 104 matches.
FIFA chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina said the officials chosen for the competition are “the very best in the world” after a three-year selection process based on quality and consistency at the highest levels of the game.
The match officials will gather in Miami for a 10-day preparation seminar beginning May 31. After that, the video match officials will move to Dallas, home of the International Broadcast Centre, while referees and assistant referees remain based in Miami.
Raymond van Meenen, the KNVB’s manager of professional football refereeing affairs, said Makkelie’s selection was a boost for Dutch officiating.
“We are extremely proud that Danny and his team have been selected for a World Cup for the second time as referees,” van Meenen said. “That is special, especially given the strong international competition.”
Makkelie’s appointment also extends the Netherlands’ long history of World Cup referee representation, with his selection following Björn Kuipers in 2014 and 2018 and marking Makkelie’s second consecutive World Cup as a referee.