Kristinn Jakobsson was born in 1969 in Kopavogur. He became a member of the international group of FIFA match officials, following the recommendation of the Iceland FA in 1997. He has gone on to officiate in several international and club matches since then. He moved up to the elite group of UEFA referee's in 2008, and became the first referee from Iceland, to take charge of a Champions League match.

Jakobsson has fresh memories of Sporting Lisbon, having been the match official in their game last season, when the Portuguese side went down 1-0 in Romania against Vaslui. Looking further in the past, he has been involved in games with Hungarian sides. Back on the 15th October 2003, he officiated the MTK - Dinamo Zabreg fixture, which ended in a 0-0 draw. That game saw Sandor Torghelle play the entire match for MTK.