First Time a Woman Will Officiate a World Cup Match

The French referee Stéphanie Frappart will become the first woman to officiate a match at the World Cup, serving as the main referee for the group stage match between Germany and Costa Rica. This was announced on Tuesday by the press service of the International Football Federation (FIFA).

Frappart already has experience from the current World Cup. Previously, she was the fourth official in the group stage match between Poland and Mexico (0:0).

In the list of referees for the World Cup taking place in Qatar, aside from Frappart, there are two other women: Japanese Yoshimi Yamashita and Rwandan Salima Mukansanga.

The 38-year-old Frappart was the first female referee appointed for the finals of France’s Ligue 1, the national cup, and the Champions League, and in 2019 she served as the main referee for the UEFA Super Cup match between Chelsea and Liverpool in England.

In December, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) ranked her first among the best female referees in world football, with Russia's Anastasia Pustovoytova coming in second.

The match between Germany and Costa Rica in Group E will take place on December 1 at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor and is set to kick off at 23:00 Yerevan time.