Official: Referee selected for Italy vs. Northern Ireland World Cup play-off semi-final

Dutchman Danny Makkelie has been officially appointed as the referee for Thursday’s World Cup play-off semi-final between Italy and Northern Ireland.

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Who will be the referee for Italy vs. Northern Ireland?

Italy will host Northern Ireland in Bergamo for the World Cup play-off semi-final on Thursday evening, and the winner of that tie will go on to face either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina away from home on Tuesday, March 31, for a spot at the final tournament. 

Makkelie will be the man with the whistle when Italy host Northern Ireland at the New Balance Arena. He will be joined by Dutch assistants Hessel Steegstra and Jan De Vries and Spanish fourth official Jesus Gil Manzano. Pol van Boekel and Jeroen Manschot, both of the Netherlands, will be the VAR and assistant VAR respectively. 

Makkelie has refereed four previous matches involving the Azzurri, the most recent coming at EURO 2024 when Italy dramatically drew 1-1 with Croatia in their final match in Group B.

His biggest call in that game was to award a penalty against Italy for a Davide Frattesi handball, although Gianluigi Donnarumma managed to keep out Luka Modric’s spot-kick.

Makkelie also took charge of Italy’s 3-0 group stage win over Turkiye at EURO 2020, a 0-0 draw against Portugal in the 2018-19 Nations League and a 3-2 victory over North Macedonia in 2018 World Cup qualifying.