World Cup final referee's comeback from heart illness to football's biggest game

FIFA have confirmed that Polish referee Szymon Marciniak will officiate the World Cup final on Sunday.

The 41-year-old, who most previously refereed the last-16 tie between Argentina and Australia earlier this month, will once again officiate Lionel Scaloni's side as they face France at Lusail Stadium. La Albiceleste ran out 2-1 winners in that game, before taking on the Netherlands and then Croatia on route to the final.

In a statement, FIFA announced that Marciniak will officiate the final alongside his assistants Paweł Sokolnick and Tomasz Listkiewicz. This is Marciniak's third game at the tournament, having also officiated France's group stage clash against Denmark, meaning he has refereed both of the sides in the final at the World Cup so far.

It is a historic moment for Marciniak, who only last year was having some health problems and took some time out of the game to recover. He was suffering from Tachycardia, which is a heart problem that typically causes the heart rate to beat over 100 times per-minute. There are many types of the illness, but fortunately, Marciniak has recovered from the issue and is back refereeing.

He said in an interview with FIFA: "I had a very difficult time for the last year and a half. I had Tachycardia - it's a heart illness. In the beginning, it was very difficult for me and I had to stop refereeing.

"I missed the UEFA European Championship, which for a referee, who is at their best age, it was a terrible feeling. Only I, and my team, know how difficult of a time it was for me. Now, life gives back to me and I cannot even stop smiling because it's a great feeling."

Marciniak became a FIFA listed referee in 2011 and has since progressed through the levels after initially starting out in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League. A year later, he made his Champions League debut as he officiated FK Ventspils' game against Molde FK, before then taking charge of a World Cup qualifier for the first time between Portugal and Azerbaijan.

In June 2015, Marciniak took charge of his first European final as he officiated the Under-21s Euro's final as Sweden beat Portugal, with none other than Manchester City's Bernardo Silva in action for the Selecao. Marciniak's journey took an almighty leap when he was put forward to officiate at Euro 2016. He went onto referee three matches, two group stage games and one knockout clash including Germany's game against Slovakia.

Marciniak refereed his first World Cup finals game alongside Sokolnick and Listkiewicz as his assistants when Argentina played Iceland. He was also selected as the head referee in the Super Cup final match between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Having reached arguably the pinnacle of football refereeing, Marciniak also praised his assistants for the work they have put in to get to this point. He added: "Being the referee in a World Cup final... it's unbelievable, to be honest. I'm very proud of myself and my team because, of course, it's not only Szymon Marciniak, it's a great team.

"We've been working since forever and we are like family: we win together, we lose together sometimes."

Meanwhile, Qatar official Abdulrahman Al-Jassim will referee the match for third place between Croatia and Morocco. The 35-year-old has been a FIFA referee since 2013, and at the 2018 World Cup he refereed the group stage match between USA and Wales, which ended in a 1-1 draw.