Iván Barton appointed to officiate Germany’s World Cup Group E opener fixture against Japan

On the list of top five things an average Bayern Munich fan complains about every game, the topic of refereeing always shows up. In Champions League fixtures, fans assess the team’s chance of winning with the referee in mind. It is certain the same logic applies to the World Cup as well.

Per @iMiaSanMia, Salvadoran referee Iván Barton has been appointed to officiate the Group E opener fixture — Germany vs Japan in the FIFA World Cup. Barton is among the six referees from El Salvador approved by FIFA and among the three from Central America who are in the World Cup. He has for a while, officiated CONCACAF and FIFA fixtures. In the region of El Salvador, he is a referee for the Salvadoran Primera Division.

Most notably, he was the referee in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Under-17 World Cup in Brazil.