Mehdi Rahmouni

Rahmouni was born in 1988 in Bastia, Haute-Corse, Corsica.^[2] At the age of four, he moved to Manduel, in the department of Gard.^[2] Rahmouni played football in local leagues and began his refereeing career at the age of 15.^[1][2] When playing football and refereeing at the same time resulted in interpersonal conflicts with those who were players of rival teams, Rahmouni made the decision to pursue refereeing only.^[1][2]

He began as a pitch referee but switched to focus on being an assistant referee after a match at the women's Division 1 between Montpellier and OL Lyonnes.^[2] Rahmouni gradually ascended through French leagues, reaching the Ligue 1 in January 2017.^[3]

Following his designation as a FIFA referee in 2018, Rahmouni has overseen games in numerous UEFA tournaments, including the UEFA Euro 2024, where he was selected as an assistant referee for the final between Spain and England at Olympiastadion in Berlin.^[4][5][6] He assisted French referee François Letexier, with whom he has worked in several competitions.^[3] That same year, Rahmouni served as an assistant referee at the men's tournament of the Summer Olympics in Paris, also assisting Letexier.^[4]

On 20 April 2025, during a Ligue 1 match between AS Saint-Étienne and Lyon, Rahmouni was struck in the head by a coin thrown from the stands. Letexier immediately suspended the match and led the teams off the pitch while Rahmouni received medical attention from Lyon's medical team. This incident halted the game for around 40 minutes before the match was permitted to resume. The fan responsible was later arrested.^[7]

He served as an assistant referee at the 2026 UEFA Europa League final between SC Freiburg and Aston Villa F.C. in Istanbul.^[8][9][10] In April 2026, Rahmouni was appointed to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, forming part of the French team led by Letexier and along assistant referee Cyril Mugnier.^[11][12]