The decline of Gil Manzano, the referee who unites Barcelona and Espanyol fans

Jesús Gil Manzano's decline is official: FIFA has ruled him out of the 2026 World Cup. Pierluigi Collina has shortlisted 16 European referees, and the absence of the referee from Extremadura has been one of the biggest surprises of the list. Among the candidates are recognizable names such as Szymon Marciniak, Clément Turpin, Istvan Kovacs, and José María Sánchez Martínez, the only Spanish representative. The FIFA decision is a low blow for Gil Manzano, who sees his last chance to officiate a World Cup slip away. The referee from San Benito had everything in his favor after refereeing at the Qatar World Cup, but since then he has had a string of very poor performances that have undermined his international reputation. The Qatar World Cup, a launching pad for Gil Manzano

In fact, the Qatar World Cup was a turning point for Spanish refereeing. FIFA had shortlisted Jesús Gil Manzano, Antonio Mateu Lahoz, and Carlos del Cerro Grande for the tournament, and the National Referees Committee (CTA) decided to eliminate the age limit of 45 years to keep the chances of the more veteran referees alive. Ultimately, Pierluigi Collina, responsible for selecting the referees, chose Mateu. The Valencian referee delivered strong performances until the quarterfinals, where he lost control of the Argentina-Netherlands match, showing 15 cards, a record for a single World Cup game. Once the 2022-23 season ended, Mateu and Del Cerro retired, paving the way for Gil Manzano, who remained the sole Spanish representative in the elite group, UEFA's top tier. He was 38 years old at the time and had extensive international experience: he had officiated at Euro 2016 as the fourth official and had participated in the 2021 Copa América as a European representative. Looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup, FIFA considered no other option than Gil Manzano, since the alternatives – Hernández Hernández and Sánchez Martínez – were in the First Division, an international second tier, and it was difficult to predict whether they would be able to improve sufficiently. A collection of high-profile controversies

Gil Manzano's precipitous decline is difficult to explain, considering he debuted in La Liga in 2012 and, therefore, his extensive experience should have given him a certain level of refereeing maturity. One of the first notable controversies occurred on matchday 37 of the 2022-23 season. He officiated a Valencia-Espanyol match, and a string of poor decisions condemned the Catalan club to relegation. That same season, he also became a central figure in an Osasuna-Barcelona match, sending off Lewandowski and noting that he had touched his nose in protest, which resulted in an additional two-match suspension for the Polish striker.

The following season, the CTA (Technical Committee of Referees) appointed him to officiate Real Madrid's visit to Mestalla. With the score tied, Los Blancos were pushing hard for the winning goal, which finally came thanks to a header from Bellingham… but Gil Manzano, inexplicably, blew the final whistle a second too early, preventing Real Madrid from securing the three points. The negative national press did not affect his international reputation, and UEFA called him up to be a featured referee at the 2024 European Championship in Germany. Expectations were high, but his debut was a nightmare: a poorly awarded corner kick for France ended up in a goal, and the Austrian players… Roberto Rosetti, the head referee, promptly dismissed him and sent him home despite him having only officiated one match.