Premier League's Michael Oliver 'earmarked for 2026 World Cup final' after what ex-FIFA ref has seen

Premier League referee Michael Oliver has an outside chance of officiating the 2026 World Cup final after his previous performances.

That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that he has "excelled" on the biggest stage of them all.

So far, the 41-year-old has taken charge of three matches at the World Cup, showing a total of 13 yellow cards, with eight of those coming in the clash between Canada's defeat to Morocco.

Before the tournament, FIFA encouraged their referees to let the game flow, which appears to have led to very few cautions being dealt, but Oliver bucked the trend in his latest display.

While some supporters were frustrated, the majority were happy to see a referee take action and protect the players, instead of allowing anyone to get injured.

The referee for the competition's semi-finals or final, the latter of which takes place at the New York New Jersey Stadium, and so it is believed Oliver now has a good chance.

Michael Oliver has proven himself ahead of World Cup final

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Hackett has backed the Premier League official for the biggest of all big matches, even despite some criticism.

"I agree with the majority that I thought Michael Oliver excelled. This is still a young guy in referee in terms but he shows great maturity," he said.

"He communicates exceptionally well, he manages players extremely well, he has done that consistently on the Premier League, and now he's transferring those skill sets and using them at the highest level.

"The fact that he's issued appropriate cautions, I don't think anybody in the world of refereeing can actually state clearly that he got any one of those wrong or that he was officious.

"I think that Michael is in that pool of a very small number that may well be earmarked for a semi-final, or even the final.

"But then again, the politics run deep in the appointment of officials around the final..."

How has Anthony Taylor done at the World Cup?

Anthony Taylor has officiated two games so far, Uzbekistan's 3-1 defeat to Colombia and Senegal's thumping of Iraq, in which one player was sent off.

While he originally only cautioned Rebin Sulaka, a VAR review helped the referee to reach the right conclusion of a sending off for the Denial of a Goalscoring Opportunity (DOGSO).

His next challenge will be keeping a lid on the clash between Portugal and Spain on Monday, 6 July, with a very real possibility of tempers flaring.

Both English referees have been exemplary, with Jarred Gillett also on VAR duty, and the hope will be that these performances will translate back to the Premier League next season.