Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a defensive midfielder. Regarded as one of the best midfielders in footballing history, Rijkaard was described by British broadsheet The Daily Telegraph as having been "a stylish player of faultless pedigree".
Jürgen Kohler is a World Cup-winning German footballer and manager, who played as a centre-back.
Sergio Gonella was an Italian bank manager and association football referee. He was the first ever Italian appointed to referee the final of the FIFA World Cup which occurred when he took charge of the 1978 final between hosts Argentina and the Netherlands. He is one of only two persons to have refereed the finals of both the UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup. In 2013, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.
Jan Willem Wegereef is a former top-level Dutch football (soccer) referee, living in Hellevoetsluis. He refereed one match at the 2002 World Cup and has officiated a total of 12 UEFA Champions League matches. As of 2008, he had officiated in 42 matches across all UEFA competitions. He also officiated the 2006–07 Saudi Premier League final.
Gilles Veissière is a football referee from France, best known for supervising two matches during the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. He also led two matches at the 2000 and 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, and has refereed numerous UEFA Champions League matches. He was selected for the FIFA Europe vs. Rest of the World match to accompany the World Cup draw in Marseille in 1997.
Leslie William Mottram is a Scottish retired football referee best known for supervising two matches in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. Mottram also officiated at UEFA Euro 1996 in England, including the semifinal match between France and the Czech Republic. He is known to have served as a FIFA referee during the period from 1991 to 1996.
Paolo Casarin is a retired football referee from Italy. He is mostly known for supervising two matches in the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain and overseeing rules and regulations throughout Europe.
An Yan Lim Lim Kee Chong is a retired Mauritian association football referee. He is mostly known for supervising two matches in the FIFA World Cup - a Group B first-round match between Brazil and Russia in 1994 and a Group G first-round match between Romania and Colombia in 1998. He was suspended following the 1998 World Cup.
Hubert Forstinger is a retired Austrian football referee. He refereed one match in the 1992 UEFA European Football Championship in Sweden that was between France and Denmark.
Guy Goethals is a Belgian retired football referee.
Gerd Grabher is a retired Austrian football referee. He is known for having refereed one match in the 1996 UEFA European Football Championship in England.
Nikolai Vladislavovich Levnikov is a retired Russian football referee. He is known for having refereed one match in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.
Johannes "Jan" Nicolaus Ignacius Keizer is a retired Dutch referee. He is known for having refereed two matches in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. He also refereed one match in the 1984 UEFA European Football Championship in France.
Rudolf Scheurer was a football (soccer) referee from Bettlach, most remembered for supervising four matches at the FIFA World Cup: two in 1970 and 1974. During his peak times, Scheurer was a high-profile referee: In 1970, he was nominated as linesman in the final between Brazil and Italy. In 1974, he was awarded the opening game. Scheurer also whistled in 1970 and 1974 World Cup qualifiers, UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying, and many European club competition matches. After he retired from his active career, Scheurer served as chief of the Swiss soccer referees. He died on November 1, 2015.
Alain Sars is a retired French football referee.
Stefano Braschi is a retired Italian football referee. He is fluent in Italian, English and French.
Michel Kitabdjian was a French referee. He officiated at the 1975 European Cup Final between Leeds United and Bayern Munich, disallowing a goal by Leeds United's Peter Lorimer for offside and denying Leeds two penalty appeals as Franz Beckenbauer first handled the ball in the box and then brought down Allan Clarke in a tackle. Leeds fans became angry at the referee, and one fan managed to access the playing field after the final whistle. After gendarmes removed him, other Leeds fans began rioting in the stands as a result of feeling robbed by the result. Kitabdjian was rated incredibly poorly by FIFA officials observing the game but was never formally investigated.
Hristo Stoichkov is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who is a football commentator for TUDN. A prolific forward, he is regarded as one of the best forwards of all time, and as the greatest Bulgarian footballer of all time. He was runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1992 and 1994, and received the Ballon d'Or in 1994. In 2004, Stoichkov was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
Björn Kuipers is a former Dutch football referee. He has been a FIFA listed referee from 2006 to 2021 and an UEFA Elite group referee from 2009 to 2021. He was assisted during international matches by Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra. A supermarket owner by occupation, Kuipers has officiated at two World Cups and three European Championship tournaments. It was announced on 29 July 2021 that Kuipers would be retiring from refereeing, officiating his final match between Ajax and PSV on 7 August in the 2021 Johan Cruyff Shield.
The history of the Netherlands national football team began when the Netherlands played their first international match on 30 April 1905 in Antwerp against Belgium. The game went into extra time, in which the Dutch scored three times, making the score 4–1 for the Dutch side, winning the Coupe Vanden Abeele.
