onwards, referees from among the 12 retained for the latter stages of the tournament were given standby appointments to matches. Final Match Officials On Wednesday 28th of June, one day after the Second Round matches were completed and two days before the Quarterfinals, the FIFA announced the 12 referees that were retained for the remaining matches. This is the standard process, meant to ensure only the best referees are in charge of the final few games. The twelve are: Toru Kamikawa (Japan) Coffi Codjia (Benin) Benito Archundia (Mexico) Horacio Elizondo (Argentina) Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay) Mark Shield (Australia) Massimo Busacca (Switzerland) Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium) Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain) Markus Merk (Germany) Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia) Roberto Rosetti (Italy) See also 2006 FIFA World Cup disciplinary record 2010 FIFA World Cup officials External links Referee Ratings for the 2006 FIFA World Cup References Officials