Portuguese referee speaks of a dream and talks about the expectations he has for the big competition next summer.
Referee Joao Pinheiro considers his appointment to the 2026 World Cup to be the highest point of his career, guaranteeing that he will be fulfilling a dream.
This is the highest point of my career, there’s no other way to put it. Being present at a World Cup is the dream of any player, coach, manager, and referees are no exception. I still hope to reach more World Cups and European Championships and more finals. I feel very happy, the referee said in statements to Canal 11.
The referee was appointed by FIFA on Thursday for the 2026 World Cup, to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, twelve years after the last time Portuguese referees officiated at the most important national team tournament.
João Pinheiro is among the 52 main referees who will officiate the 104 matches of the 2026 World Cup, between June 11 and July 19, which includes Portugal in Group K, along with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia and Uzbekistan.
At 38 years old, the referee, originally from Vila Nova de Famalicão, will make his senior-level debut as a head referee in final stages of the tournament, having already officiated at the Under-21 European Championship in 2023, and the Under-17 World Championship in 2023 and the Under-20 World Championship in 2025.
Pinheiro was already at Euro 2020, played in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but only as a video assistant referee (VAR), and at the 2024/25 Champions League final, in which Paris Saint-Germain beat Inter Milan (5-0), as the fourth official.
The lawyer, promoted to the first category in 2015, an international referee since 2016 and a FIFA elite category referee since 2025, will have Bruno Jesus and Luciano Maia as his assistants.
The referee from the Braga association, who this season officiated the European Super Cup, in which Paris Saint=Germain beat Tottenham in a penalty shootout, will succeed Pedro Proença, the current president of the Portuguese Football Federation, as the on=field referee in the final stages of a World Cup.
Joao Pinheiro highlighted the importance of Portuguese referees returning to the biggest national team competition, recalling the work that was done to achieve this goal. “This is a very important moment for me, for my team, and for Portuguese referees. It’s been twelve years without referees, often unfairly. This moment is very gratifying for us because it’s been years, not months, of preparing for this World Cup, he emphasized.
The referee, who praised the quality of Portuguese refereeing, explained that the competition will have new rules, which will be further detailed starting on May 31st. “We had the course last week in Italy, but considering that the competitions haven’t finished yet, FIFA decided to postpone the preparation until Miami. We touched on the new rules briefly, but we’ll be doing more work preparing for the World Cup between May 31st and June 11th,” he explained.
João Pinheiro recalled that the minimum objective is to play one game and work towards being called up for more matches at the 2026 World Cup, but he doesn’t mind leaving early if it means success for the Portuguese national team in the competition. We’ve already played in an Under-17 World Cup and an Under-20 World Cup, and the minimum objective starts with playing one game. Playing two would be important for us, reaching a third would be excellent. We are among the youngest who will be there, and those competitions are very much based on performance at the time, he concluded.