The 38-year-old from Rotherham will take charge of Sunday's final at Johannesburg's Soccer City along with his assistants Darren Cann and Michael Mullarkey following a decision by FIFA's referees committee.

He will become the first Englishman to referee the final since Jack Taylor in 1974 - who awarded the first World Cup final penalty ever to Holland just a minute into the match against West Germany - and follows in the footsteps of Bill Ling in 1954 and George Reader in 1950.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore paid tribute to Webb and his team, saying: "We see the hard work and professionalism of Howard Webb, Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey week in, week out when they are officiating in the Barclays Premier League.

"So, it is great to see their fantastic season, where they have already represented English refereeing in the UEFA Champions League Final, topped off with the ultimate appointment - the FIFA World Cup Final."

Webb has refereed three matches in this World Cup so far, starting off with Spain's shock defeat by Switzerland. There was some unhappiness among the Spanish press, who made him the scapegoat for the defeat - Marca gave him four out of 10 - but Webb's team really impressed in Italy v Slovakia where Cann was spot on with a tight call to rule out a Fabio Quagliarella equaliser.

In the first knockout round match between Brazil and Chile, Mullarkey was equally praised for his decision to allow Luis Fabiano's goal while Chile defenders were claiming offside.

Yorkshireman Webb - making a little piece of football history in that he will become the first person to have refereed the Champions League or European Cup final and the World Cup final in the same year - has emerged as the Premier League's leading referee following the retirement of Graham Poll, the last World Cup referee from England.

Poll's World Cup in 2006 ended in disaster when he booked Croatia'sJosip Simunic three times, while Webb himself suffered death threats on the internet when he awarded a last-minute penalty to Austria against Poland in Euro 2008 for shirt-pulling.

UEFA backed him - as did video replays of the incident - and chose him for this year's Champions League final between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.

Webb, who is currently on a five-year break from South Yorkshire Police where he was serving as a sergeant in the force, said earlier on in the tournament that referees have to be brave.

The miner's son, who grew up in the shadow of the Orgreave Colliery, said: "You hope that you don't have controversies but sometimes you have to make the big decisions.

"If you don't, because you are trying to avoid controversy, you are not doing your job right. If the situation presents itself, you have to react.

"It would be a great honour to be given the Final but it would be for all the officials here. We want to progress to the latter stages of this tournament but not at the expense of other people's mistakes."

Premier League referees chief Mike Riley praised Webb and his assistants Cann, from Norfolk, and Mullarkey, from Exeter.

Riley, general manager of Professional Match Game Officials said: "It's not only recognition for their excellent tournament in South Africa so far but also the progress they have made internationally over the last four years."

Riley said he hoped the appointment would attract new officials to refereeing.

He added: "Their appointment is fantastic recognition for English refereeing and should act as an inspiration for all young referees wanting to enter into the game. It just shows what you can achieve if you work hard."