World Cup 2022: First female referee to officiate Germany-Costa Rica men's match

Al Khor, Qatar - Stéphanie Frappart of France will become the first woman to officiate a game at a men's World Cup as she has been appointed referee of Thursday's Group E encounter between Germany and Costa Rica.

Stéphanie Frappart of France is set to make history as the first female head referee at a men's World Cup match.
Stéphanie Frappart of France is set to make history as the first female head referee at a men's World Cup match.  © REUTERS

The ruling body FIFA announced the milestone on Tuesday as it also said that the assistant referees for the crucial game would be women: Neuza Back of Brazil and Karen Diaz Medina of Mexico for an all-female line-up on the pitch.

Said Martinez of Honduras is the fourth official.

Trailblazer Frappart (38) has a lot of experience with men's games and was already nominated for the Euro 2020 tournament but didn't get a match there.

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She has been in charge of games in the French Ligue 1 since 2019, officiated the European Super Cup in 2019, and was also the first woman in charge of a Champions League match in 2020.

Frappart has officiated Nations League and qualifiers for the Qatar tournament, while in the women's game she was in charge of the 2019 World Cup final between the United States and the Netherlands.

Last week, she also became the first female official overall at a men's World Cup, as fourth official for the Mexico v. Poland game.

Two other women are at the Qatar tournament among the 36 referees overall, Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda and Japan's Yoshimi Yamashita. They are yet to take to the pitch.

The tournament also has three female assistant referees, Back, Diaz Medina, and American Kathryn Nesbitt.

"They are not here because they are women but as FIFA referees. They are ready for every game," FIFA referee chief Pierluigi Collina said at the start of the tournament.

Cover photo: Collage: REUTERS

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