Club World Cup final referee: Has Anthony Taylor taken Real Madrid games before?

Real Madrid and Al Hilal will duke out the Club World Cup final on Saturday evening as the reigning champions of Europe and Asia contest the global crown.

There has been a European representative in the match to decide the best club side in the world every year since 2005. However, Al Hilal became the first Saudi Arabian team to reach the competition's showpiece after a controversial semi-final victory over Brazilian giants Flamengo.

After watching his side get reduced to ten men and concede two penalties, Vitor Pereira, Flamengo's incandescent manager, raged: “We were ready to play Al Hilal but were not ready for a refereeing that was not up to the standards of the competition.”

Istvan Kovacs will be nowhere near the final, with the Premier League official Anthony Taylor taking charge. Here's everything you need to know about the 44-year-old from Wythenshawe.

Anthony Taylor's record in Real Madrid matches

Taylor has previously taken charge of only two Real Madrid matches, both in the Champions League group stage.

In 2019, Taylor was in the middle for Real Madrid's 3-0 defeat away to Paris Saint-Germain. Angel Di Maria had already scored twice against his former employers before Gareth Bale offered flickers of a fightback with a lob before the break. However, Taylor was instructed by the Video Assistant Referee to chalk off the strike for handball.

The following year, Taylor's decisions were far more favourable for Real Madrid. Within the opening ten minutes of Madrid's trip to Inter's San Siro, Taylor pointed to the spot. Eden Hazard slammed in the opening goal but the hosts soon demanded a penalty of their own.

Arturo Vidal flopped to the floor in Madrid's box, falling over himself as he tried to get back to his feet and appeal. By the time Vidal had joined the crowd of Inter players surrounding the referee, his protestations were so fierce Taylor showed him a yellow card. In the six subsequent seconds, Vidal stepped nose-to-nose with Taylor, brushing the official's arm with his chest which earned him another yellow card.

Achraf Hakimi scored an own goal for the hosts after the interval to seal a breezy 2-0 victory for Madrid.

Finals Anthony Taylor has refereed

Across a career which began in the Northern Premier League two decades ago, Taylor has taken charge of seven major finals.

Taylor's first showpiece listing was the 2015 League Cup final which saw Chelsea defeat Tottenham 2-0. That summer, Taylor had the whistle for the under-19 European Championship final. Real Madrid's Jesus Vallejo, Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio all started for the the Spain team which beat Russia that day.

In 2020, Taylor became the first referee to officiate his second FA Cup final in more than a century. Three years after overseeing Arsenal defeat Chelsea 2-1, Taylor was at an empty Wembley Stadium to watch the Gunners beat the same team by the same scoreline.

More than 85,000 turned up to the so-called home of football as Taylor officiated Fulham's Championship playoff final victory against Aston Villa in 2018.

Taylor has also been in charge of international finals, overseeing North Macedonia's European Qualifiers playoff triumph against Georgia in 2020 and France's come-from-behind victory in the 2021 UEFA Nations League final against Spain.

Controversial Anthony Taylor incidents

Chelsea fans started a petition to ban the referee in August 2022 which garnered more than 10,000 signatures within an hour after the Blues' controversial draw at home to Tottenham. Taylor overlooked Chelsea's appeals for fouls ahead of both of Tottenham's equalisers, with the west London support particularly aggrieved by the lack of punishment Cristian Romero received for pulling Marc Cucurella's hair directly before Harry Kane made it 2-2 in stoppage time.

Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea's then manager, agreed with the proposed Taylor boycott. “Maybe it would be better, maybe it would be better,” he said.

One year prior, Taylor sent off Reece James after the Chelsea defender was deemed to have handled the ball on the Anfield goal line. Mohamed Salah converted Liverpool's penalty on the cusp of half-time, as Chelsea clung to a point.

James was the third Chelsea player Taylor has sent off. In that season's reverse fixture, the west London club's fanbase fumed when Taylor kept his cards in his pocket after Sadio Mane caught Cesar Azpilicueta in the face with a stray arm shortly after kickoff. Azpilicueta and Tuchel headed up the burgeoning queue of complaints against the referee.

Chelsea are the reigning Club World Cup champions but will have their crown handed to one of Real Madrid or Al Hilal this Saturday. Somehow, that may also prove to be Taylor's fault.

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