Ismael Elfath of the United States has been appointed to referee the World Cup semifinal between England and Argentina, which will take place on Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The 44-year-old referee has already officiated three matches in the tournament: Japan vs. the Netherlands, Uruguay vs. Spain, and Brazil vs. Norway. In those matches, he issued a total of six yellow cards and one red card, to Uruguay’s Agustín Canobbio. His assistants will be fellow Americans Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins.

England and Argentina will face each other for the first time since 2005, while their last World Cup matchup was in 2002. Their history is full of tension and controversial moments, most notably Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” in 1986 and David Beckham’s ejection for striking Diego Simeone in 1998.

Argentina’s run to the semifinals has been accompanied by heated debates over referees’ decisions and VAR calls. Among them were the incident involving Lionel Messi and Aissa Madi, Egypt’s disallowed goal in the Round of 16, as well as the VAR intervention in the quarterfinal against Switzerland, when a card initially shown to Leandro Paredes was ultimately issued to Breel Embolo.

*photo source: AP