Rudolf Kreitlein (14 November 1919, in Fürth – 31 July 2012, in Stuttgart) was a German international football referee, active in the 1960s.

Kreitlein is perhaps best known for having refereed the 1966 World Cup quarter-final match between England and Argentina in which he dismissed Antonio Rattín from the field of play in the 35th minute of the game for a second caution - dissent.

It was also during that game that Jack Charlton was cautioned, only to discover the fact the next day from the newspaper report.

[4] Kreitlein's rise to prominence within the European game was evident prior to the World Cup.

He had been appointed as one of the German representatives for the 1963 UEFA Youth Championship in England, refereeing the final between England and Northern Ireland at Wembley (his assistants were the Hungarian orchestral conductor and referee István Zsolt and the Belgian Mark Raemaekers).