Sándor Puhl (14 July 1955 – 20 May 2021) was a Hungarian football referee, best known for officiating four matches in the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

in the United States, including the final between

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He also refereed

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

matches, including the

1997 UEFA Champions League Final The 1997 UEFA Champions League final was a football match played at the Olympiastadion in Munich on 28 May 1997 to determine the winner of the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League. The match was contested by Borussia Dortmund of Germany and defending ...

between

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. Dortmund ended up winning 3–1. Arguably, Sandor Puhl is most famous for referreeing the last world cup qualifier for France 98 between Iran and Australia where Iran shockingly came from 2-0 down to tie the game 2-2 and qualify for the World Cup due to the away goal rule. He was elected as IFFHS' World's Best Referee of the Year four consecutive times: 1994 - 1997. After retiring as a referee, he was Deputy Chairman of the Hungarian Football Association (2000-2006). He also worked as a co-commentator for a Hungarian sports TV channel. Puhl spoke Hungarian, German, Italian, and English. Puhl died on 20 May 2021, at the age of 65 from post-

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

complications during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary.

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Sándor Puhl 1955 births 2021 deaths Hungarian football referees UEFA Champions League referees FIFA World Cup finals match officials 1994 FIFA World Cup referees People from Miskolc UEFA Euro 1992 referees UEFA Euro 1996 referees Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary UEFA Europa League referees {{Sports-official-bio-stub