Six women are included in the final line-up of match officials for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
The total matches the number from Qatar 2022, when female referees first officiated at a men’s World Cup.
But the number who will be part of the 52-strong referee team is down from three to two this time, despite an increase of 41 match officials for the first 48-team finals.
Pierluigi Collina, Fifa’s chief refereeing officer and chairman of the Fifa referees committee told fifa.com: “The fact that six women match officials have been selected continues a trend that was started four years ago in Qatar as we aim to further develop women’s refereeing.”
Major League Soccer’s Tori Penso, who was on the team for the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, has been selected to referee alongside Liga MX official Katia Garcia of Mexico.
The four women selected as assistant referees are Daniele Bindoni (Italy), Brooke Mayo (USA), Kathryn Nesbitt (USA), and Sandra Ramirez (Mexico).
Meanwhile, Tatiana Guzman of Nicaragua is one of the VAR officials.
