World Cup won't feature British referees for 1st time in 80 years

Thirty-six referees and 63 assistant referees have been selected by FIFA to officiate matches at this summer's World Cup, but there will be no representatives from England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland for the first time since 1938.

There are 46 different countries represented in the list.

Mark Clattenburg was the only Briton who featured on the long list set back in 2016, but his decision to become Saudi Arabia's new head of referees in February 2017 saw him forfeit his chance of working at the World Cup. Clattenburg was in charge for the Euro 2016 final between France and Portugal but has never been the man in the middle at a World Cup.

The Football Association asked FIFA to replace Clattenburg with another British candidate but world football's governing body refused, according to BBC Sport's Mandeep Sanghera.

Britain's only representative at the previous two World Cups was Howard Webb. He was the referee for the 2010 final when Spain overcame the Netherlands, and famously brandished just a yellow card when Nigel de Jong performed a studs-up kick to the chest of Xabi Alonso.