France and Spain are set to face each other in a blockbuster semifinal of the World Cup as stars Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé fight to earn a place in the final.
France, who breezed 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 Austia, Portugal and Belgium to earn their spot in the final four.
To officate 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 in 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.
35-year-old Barton has plenty of experience at the highest level. Most notably he has officiated several CONCACAF fixtures including the Champions Cup final and Gold Cup finals.
France v Spain will be the fourth 2026 World Cup game he'll be in charge of, 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 out 11 yellow cards this tournament.
He has never overseen a game that involved Spain, but was the referee for France's Olympic Games defeat in 2021 when they lost to hosts Japan 4-0.
During that disastrous match for France, Barton sent off Randal Kolo Muani for a studs-up challenge on Japan midfielder Koji Miyoshi.