Who is the referee for UEFA Euro U-21 final? Meet Espen Eskås the man in the middle for England vs Spain

The match official team for the UEFA European U-21 final has been confirmed.

Norway's Espen Eskås will be the man with the whistle when England's youth side face Spain at the Batumi Arena in Georgia on Saturday (8 July). The match will kick-off at 5pm and is free-to-watch in the UK after coverage was picked up by Channel 4.

But who exactly is the referee? Here's all you need to know:

Who is the referee for U21 final?

Espen Eskås will be the match official for Saturday's final. He is a 35-year-old and according to UEFA he is no stranger to big final occasions.

He has previously took charge of the U17 final in 2019 and has even taken charge of a game in the Champions League. He made his debut in October last year and had the whistle for the Group-F game between Leipzig and Celtic.

The referee told UEFA.com: "I’m proud and looking forward to the final. I feel particularly humble because of the quality of the referees that I’ve shared the last three weeks with at this tournament.

"Football is demanding; the game is getting faster, so you need to be ready and prepared. You must be a manager of people on the field, have the ability to communicate with players, and show that you’re strong and able to take critical decisions. It’s also true that you learn so many skills as a referee that stay with you for life.”

Who are the assistants and VAR?

The full match official lineup will be as follows:

• assistant referee Isaak Elias Bashevkin
• assistant referee Jan Erik Engan
• fourth official Rade Obrenović
• Video assistant referee (VAR) Christian Dingert
• assistant video assistant referees Tiago Lopes Martins and Bartosz Frankowski
• reserve assistant referee Grega Kordež