A woman has taken the field as a referee for the first time in men's World Cup history.
In charge of Germany's match against Costa Rica in the final round of Group E games, Stéphanie Frappart became the first woman to be the lead referee during a men's World Cup match 92 years after the first games were played in Uruguay.
The Frenchwoman was part of an all-female refereeing trio that officiated Costa Rica vs. Germany in Group E, alongside Brazilian Neuza Back and Mexican Karen Diaz.
Frappart was named earlier this year as one of the referees who would travel to Qatar with other female officials.
"Not only football, but the men's World Cup is the most important competition in the world," she told the Athletic.
"However, I was the first female referee in France, the first in Europe, and I was always the first. I know how to handle that."
"I'm really going to head into this with enormous emotion," Ms. Frappart said before the game, "but you have to channel that because clearly the important thing is the pitch."
"I think I'll keep everything around me in mind, and the goal will remain the same, which is to be the referee based on performance on the field."
FIFA called the event "history in the making."
As a result, she is accustomed to the accompanying noise. Among the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Frappart and her assistants' appointment, with many seeing it as an antidote to a tainted tournament, were the same tired refrains.
Frappart is a 38-year-old referee whose career has had a significant impact on female officials around the world and has more men's stage experience than any other woman. She has her name written all over the record books, with numerous impressive firsts to her credit.
Frappart began officiating in the French third division in 2011, and three years later became the first female official in Ligue 2.
The Frenchwoman was then called up to referee alongside an all-female crew at the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada.
In 2019, Frappart became the first female referee in Ligue 1 before being recalled to the Women's World Cup for the second time. She would be appointed as the tournament's referee for the final.
This would pave the way for even greater achievements later that year, when the French official was appointed to the men's UEFA Super Cup.
By doing so, Frappart became the first female referee to take charge of a men's European match, as well as the first female official of a men's Champions League game.
In May, she was appointed as the referee for the 2022 Coupe de France Final, which Nantes won 1-0 over Nice at the Stade de France.
All in all, she has had a successful career for nearly two decades. She officiated her first game at the age of 19 in 2003, which was a women's match between Henin-Beaumont F.C. and La Roche-sur-Yon, in Le Plessis-Bouchard, a remote town in the far north of the Paris region.
"I knew my life had changed after 2019 because almost everyone recognized me on the street," Frappart says.
Since then, she has risen through the ranks like no other woman before her, earning numerous accolades. She was the first woman to be the lead referee during a men's Ligue 2 game in France's second division in 2014. She then officiated in men's Ligue 1, international friendlies, and the Champions League.
Ms. Frappart also became the first woman to referee the UEFA Super Cup match between Chelsea and Liverpool on August 14, 2019. Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp praised her performance after the game.
Furthermore, Frappart officiated the 2019 Women's World Cup final, which the United States won over the Netherlands, capping a tournament that served as a major public forum for the United States team's fight for equal pay and treatment from its national federation.
The French official's name has already gone down in history. She became the first female referee to take charge of a men's World Cup Qualifier in March 2021, when the Netherlands defeated Latvia 2-0 in Amsterdam.
When Italian champions Juventus defeated Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv 3-0 in the group stage in Turin in December 2020, she became the first female official to take charge of a men's Champions League match.
Pierluigi Collina, the FIFA referee committee chairman known for being tough on his colleagues, on the other hand, has high praise for Frappart. "I hope that there will be more Frapparts in the future, and that this will no longer be an oddity or a news story," Collina told the Italian press in 2021.
At the 2019 Globe Soccer Awards, Ms. Frappart was named best referee, and Collina presented her with the trophy.
In Qatar, Ms. Frappart has already served as the fourth official twice this World Cup, becoming the first female official at a men's World Cup match between Mexico and Poland. Mukasanga and Yamashita have also served as the fourth officials in two and four World Cup games, respectively.
Kathryn Nesbitt of the United States was also working as an offside specialist in the video review team at the Group E match at Al Bayt Stadium.
