Meet the philosopher-in-training who will be at the VAR monitor this World Cup

The Guardian Sport Tuesday 09 June 2026, 16:30 UTC By Jeff Rueter 1 min read

Key Points

Joe Dickerson is one of North America’s best referees, but he’ll be off the field in a high-pressure position when the World Cup begins• Predict the winner | Daily podcast | Download our appJoe Dickerson never set out to be a referee. As a player, he was told that reffing would be to make money on the side, learn responsibility, and – more pertinent to his team – learn the sport and begin to understand it on a granular level. Those early assignments in the San Jose area have blossomed into a...

Joe Dickerson is one of North America’s best referees, but he’ll be off the field in a high-pressure position when the World Cup begins

• Predict the winner | Daily podcast | Download our app

Joe Dickerson never set out to be a referee. As a player, he was told that reffing would be to make money on the side, learn responsibility, and – more pertinent to his team – learn the sport and begin to understand it on a granular level.

Those early assignments in the San Jose area have blossomed into a career that saw Dickerson honored as US Soccer’s male referee of the year in 2025. All of it has been driven by his ability to drill into details – something he’ll be doing a lot of as a VAR official in the replay booth for this summer’s World Cup.

VAR (ORG) World Cup (EVENT) Joe Dickerson (PERSON) North America (LOCATION) the World Cup (EVENT) Dickerson (PERSON) San Jose (LOCATION) US Soccer (ORG)

Originally published by The Guardian Sport Read original →

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Meet the philosopher-in-training who will be at the VAR monitor this World Cup

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