Stéphanie Frappart: the woman who broke the refereeing barrier at the World Cup (2022)
At Qatar 2022, Frappart became the first woman to referee a match at a men's World Cup, leading an all-female officiating trio.
On 1 December 2022, France's Stéphanie Frappart made history by becoming the first woman to referee a match in the finals of a men's World Cup: the Costa Rica-Germany game (2-4) at Qatar 2022.
And she was not alone. The officiating trio was entirely female, with Brazil's Neuza Back and Mexico's Karen Díaz as assistants. A scene unthinkable only a few years earlier.
Frappart had already been opening doors: she was the first woman to referee in France's Ligue 1 (2019), in a major European men's final (the 2019 UEFA Super Cup) and in the Champions League (2020).
At Qatar 2022, FIFA for the first time appointed three female head referees for a men's World Cup — Frappart, Rwanda's Salima Mukansanga and Japan's Yoshimi Yamashita — a symbolic step towards equality.
That match was not a mere refereeing formality but a message: elite officiating, for almost a century exclusively male territory at World Cups, was finally opening its doors.
Source: Wikipedia (Stéphanie Frappart; 2022 FIFA World Cup Group E).