Northampton assistant referee Stuart Burt handed Brazil date at FIFA World Cup

The assistant referee is on duty at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and it has been confirmed that he will be officiating at Friday afternoon's quarter-final between the Samba superstars and Croatia, which kicks off at 3pm.

Michael Oliver has been handed the task of refereeing the high profile clash between the five-times World Cup winners and the nation that finished runners-up in 2018, losing in the final to France.

Brazil are chasing their first World Cup triumph since 2002.

Burt will be one of Oliver's assistants, Gary Beswick the other, with the game being played at the Education City Stadium in Doha.

The match will be the third that Burt has officiated in at the FIFA World Cup, with the others both being in the group stage.

He ran the line for Costa Rica's surprise win over Japan, and also the clash between Mexico and Saudi Arabia, that ended in a 2-1 win for the north American side.

Burt, who was born in Northampton and grew up in Kingsthorpe, has been an assistant at many high profile matches in his career to date.

He ran the line in three matches in last summer's Euro 2020 tournament, and prior to that had officiated in two FA Cup Finals (2012 & 2022), two League Cup Finals (2013 & 2017) and also two UEFA Super Cup Finals (2014 & 2022).

But the Brazil versus Croatia date will be the biggest of his career to date, and one where the eyes of the world will be on him and the rest of the refereeing team - as well as the football.

Brazil are big favourites to win the encounter following their emphatic 4-1 last-16 win over South Korea, but Croatia, who needed penalties to see off Japan in their first knockout match, will be setting their stall out to cause an upset.

Burt, whose dad Rodney was also a referee, first qualified to be the man in the middle at age of just 16, initially taking charge of matches in the local John Henry Youth League.

He progressed through the local parks leagues - doing plenty of stints at the Racecourse, Abington Park and Kingsthorpe Rec on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings - and then the senior levels at a quick rate.

By the time he was 25 he was refereeing in the Southern League, and also running the line at National League level.

A year later he was an assistant in the Football League, before he was promoted to run the line in the Premier League.

He was soon selected to be on the FIFA list of assistant referees, and gave up being a referee to concentrate on running the line

Burt has to date been assistant at more than 400 Premier League and 160-plus matches away from the domestic scene, and has been in Qatar since mid-November.

Friday afternoon's match between Brazil and Croatia is being broadcast live on BBC1, with coverage starting at 2.30pm.