Scotland v Denmark: Official praised for 2021 Hampden decision confirmed for qualifying clash plus VAR details

Despite losing 3-2 to Greece in Piraeus at the weekend, a golden chance to book their place at next summer’s tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada remains for Steve Clarke’s side after Denmark’s shock 2-2 draw against bottom of the group Belarus set up a winner takes all tie in Glasgow.

One point behind Denmark at the top of Group C, the challenge is simple for Scotland heading into the game. Win the game, top the group, seal automatic qualification to the 2026 World Cup as group winners, and end almost three decades of hurt in the process. Fail to win? Denmark is the group winner, and Scotland will instead need to navigate the playoffs to reach the tournament.

Ahead of the game, we look at who UEFA has chosen as the match officials for Friday’s game in Mount Florida:

Scotland v Denmark referee

The man in the middle for the crunch World Cup qualifier at Hampden will be high-profile Polish referee Szymon Marciniak. He started his refereeing career at the young age of 21, while also playing amateur football in Poland. He officially became a professional referee in the year 2006, but continued to combine his career with amateur football. His first-ever top-tier Polish game came in 2009.

Now one of UEFA’s top-ranking officials, the 44-year-old has taken charge of the FIFA World Cup final, UEFA Champions League final, and several Scotland games in the last few seasons. He is a UEFA elite category official. During his career, he has officiated a total of 663 games. In these matches, he has issued 2,710 yellow cards (4.09 per game) and 68 red cards (0.10 per game).

Has he refereed any Scotland games previously?

Yes, he has taken charge of one game at Hampden previously, with the Polish referee officiating Scotland’s 3-2 World Cup qualifying win over Israel in October 2021.

During the game, which the national team won via an injury-time Scott McTominay strike, the referee was praised for overturning his decision to disallow Scotland’s second goal from Lyndon Dykes, with the forward initially seeing his strike ruled out for a high foot on Israel defender Ofri Arad during a challenge in the box. However, following a VAR intervention, Marciniak consulted the monitor and opted to overturn his original decision and allow the goal to stand.

Recent controversy

While he remains one of the world’s most respected officials, he is not immune to controversy and has faced significant scrutiny over some high-profile decisions last season. His most notable controversy came in the Champions League semi-clash between Barcelona and Inter Milan, which the Italians won 4-3 in extra-time.

Criticised by Barcelona boss Hansi Flick, star midfielder Pedri, and president Joan Laporta, some in the Spanish media labelled his officiating during the game as “terrible”. During the game, Barca were incensed by several big decisions going against them, with a reversed penalty on Lamine Yamal, an alleged handball in the build-up to Inter's late equalizer which went unpunished, and an uncalled foul on Gerard Martin prior to the Italian’s dramatic stoppage-time goal, despite replays showing contact.

UEFA responded by dropping Marciniak from the 2025 Champions League final (despite him being the frontrunner), Europa League final, and Conference League final. Barcelona goalkeeper, and Poland international, Wojciech Szczęsny was later forced to urge fans to avoid harassment campaigns against him.

Scotland v Denmark VAR details

Marciniak will be assisted by fellow countrymen Tomasz Listkiewicz and Adam Kupsik, with Paweł Raczkowski as the fourth official. On VAR duties it will be Tomasz Kwiatkowski, and he will be assisted by Daniel Stefanski.

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