Stephanie Frappart to become first woman to referee match at men’s World Cup

France’s Stephanie Frappart will become the first woman to referee a match at the men’s World Cup after being selected to take charge of Thursday’s clash between Germany and Costa Rica.

The 38-year-old will lead an all-female on-field team for the Group E match at Al Bayt Stadium, with Brazil’s Neuza Back and Mexican Karen Diaz Medina chosen as her assistants.

Frappart has already made history at the tournament, having become the first female official for a men’s World Cup match when she was fourth official for the goalless draw between Mexico and Poland last Tuesday.

FIFA named three female referees on its list of 36 for the competition, with Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga and Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan also in Qatar.

In addition, there are three women among the 69 assistant referees: Back, Diaz Medina and Kathryn Nesbitt from the United States.

Frappart has previously broken new ground as a female referee.

She became the first woman to referee a men’s Champions League game in 2020 when she took charge of Juventus’ match against Dynamo Kyiv.

She has also overseen games in Ligue 1, the Europa League, men’s World Cup qualifying and the 2019 UEFA Super Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool.