French referee Clement Turpin will officiate Thursday’s World Cup qualifier between Italy and North Macedonia.
It kicks off at the Stadio Barbera in Palermo on Thursday at 19.45 GMT.
The winners of this game will then go on to face either Portugal or Turkey on March 29 for a spot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
UEFA have appointed French referee Turpin to the job of officiating supported by Nicolas Danos, Cyril Gringonre and fourth official Benoit Bastien
Jerone Brisad get the nod as fourth official.
Turpin is a 39-year-old referee who was given the Europa League Final between Villarreal and Manchester United last summer.
His record with Italian teams at club and international level is of 11 wins, four draws and seven losses.
Purely with the senior Italy side, they have won both encounters officiated by Turpin, a 3-0 friendly win over Uruguay in June 2017 and 2-0 Nations League success against Poland in November 2020.
It will be his first time dealing with a side from North Macedonia.
Wonderful.. A French ref on top of it all.. I can already see the bad calls he’ll make vs Italy
He’s a useless rat.
It’s obvious, get rid of the European champions for a easier game with N M