Experienced English referee Anthony Taylor will take charge of Spain vs Germany today, as the Euro 2024 quarter-finals begin with a box-office match-up. Spain and Germany meet in Stuttgart, with the winner progressing to a semi-final against either France or Portugal on Tuesday July 9.
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Who is Anthony Taylor?
Taylor will be overseeing his third game at Euro 2024. His two appearances so far also had big-name involvement - and both ended goalless. The 45-year-old ran the rule over the Netherlands vs France on matchday two of Group D, and Belgium’s stalemate with Ukraine in the final round of Group E fixtures.
Praised for handling of Eriksen cardiac arrest
Taylor is appearing at his second European Championship finals, having refereed three games at the covid-delayed Euro 2020 three years ago. Most notably, that trio of run-outs included Finland’s 1-0 group-stage win over Denmark, in which Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch after suffering a cardiac arrest. Praised for the way he dealt with the incident, Taylor has said he knew “straight away” that the situation was serious when Eriksen, who recovered to resume his soccer career, dropped to the turf. “Christian was on his own,” Taylor told an interview with the BBC. “The only thing that was close to him was a bouncing ball which hit his knee. I was actually looking directly at him when he fell over. I could see his face as he fell.”
In his five career games at the Euros, Taylor is yet to send a player off. At Germany 2024, the Englishman has shown just three yellow cards.
Unhappy memories for Spain...
The Manchester-born official was among the roster of referees at the 2022 World Cup, taking charge of two games in Qatar. A year earlier, he was the man in the middle for Spain’s 2-1 defeat to France in the 2021 UEFA Nations League final. He angered the Spaniards by ruling Kylian Mbappé onside for France’s second goal, scored after Spain’s Eric García had inadvertently helped Theo Hernández’s through ball to Mbappé into the striker’s path. Although Mbappé was beyond the last defender when both Hernández and García connected with the ball, he was ruled onside as García had deliberately made contact with it. Spain complained that García had been put in an unfair situation: he could not be sure in that split-second whether or not Mbappé was offside when Hernández played his pass, and was forced into going for the ball by his opponent’s presence.
Busquets: "the referee told us that Eric Garcia wanted to play the ball and that kills the offside... But he wanted to play the ball because the ball would have reached Mbappe who was offside! It doesn't make sense!" pic.twitter.com/imhepp236Z
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) October 10, 2021
UEL final referee a year ago
In the club game, Taylor was handed his Premier League debut in 2010, and has now made a total of 371 appearances in the top flight of English men’s soccer. He has become a regular presence in Europe’s major club competitions, overseeing 34 games in the Champions League, the continent’s elite tournament. Most recently, he was appointed to Borussia Dortmund’s 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the 2023/24 semi-finals.
Of Taylor’s 21 appearances in Europe’s second-tier tournament, the Europa League, his highest-profile game to date was the 2023 final, won on penalties by Sevilla after a 1-1 draw with Roma. In the wake of the game in Budapest, footage emerged of ugly scenes at the Hungarian capital’s airport, where Taylor was accosted by angry Roma fans. This came after the official had been confronted and sworn at post-match by the Giallorossi’s then-head coach José Mourinho, who criticised the referee’s performance in the media. Mourinho was banned for four UEFA matches for the abuse he directed at Taylor.
Other major appointments on Taylor’s resumé include Bayern Munich’s 2-1 win over Sevilla in the 2020 UEFA Super Cup, and Real Madrid’s 5-3 victory over Al Hilal in the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup final.
Spain vs Germany: start time, how to watch
The Euro 2024 quarter-final between Spain and Germany takes place today, Friday July 5, 2024, with kick-off at MHPArena scheduled for 12 noon ET/9am PT.
Viewers in the United States can watch the game on Fox Network and ViX, while you can also stream the action on fuboTV, which offers a free trial.
Enjoy Spain vs Germany on fubo.
Who are Anthony Taylor’s assistant referees? Who is the VAR?
Taylor’s assistant referees in Stuttgart will be compatriots Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn, and the fourth official will be Slovakia’s Ivan Kruzliak. The video assistant referee (VAR) will be England’s Stuart Atwell. The first assistant VAR (AVAR) will be Poland’s Bartosz Frankowski, and the second AVAR will be Italy’s Massimiliano Irrati.
