The best referee in 2024 had been mobilized for the 2026 Euro in Germany and the 2025 Club World Cup in the United States, but had never participated in a World Cup.
“There will be particularities related to the scale of the competition,” said François Letexier in an interview on May 6, who will officiate as the main referee for the first time in his career at a football World Cup this summer. He is one of the two French referees, along with Clément Turpin, selected for the World Cup that will take place in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Originally from Brittany (Ille-et-Vilaine), he expects to enter an “emotional and affective bubble” upon arrival.
“I will be deprived of the support of my loved ones. It’s not easy to be away from them for six to seven weeks. This is a very important criterion in the preparation,” he added during an interview conducted at the National Football Center in Clairefontaine.
Nevertheless, the referee who was voted the best in the world in 2024 believes there is “no major difference” between “preparing for a Euro, a World Cup, or a Club World Cup.” François Letexier has already officiated the final of the Euro in 2024, as well as during the 2025 Club World Cup held in the United States. “We were in a similar environment,” the referee disclosed. “Our living center was the same. So, I know that I will find references and grounding.”
“The only thing that would make me successful in my competition is our performances,” he continued. “I am not aiming for a certain level of match or elements that I would not master; I only aim for our performances. If we finish our matches thinking that we have lived up to what we want to be, then our competition will be successful.”
