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Add yet another first to Stéphanie Frappart’s impressive resumé. The French referee became the first woman to officiate a men’s World Cup qualifier, taking charge of the Netherlands’ 2-0 win over Latvia on Saturday.
Stéphanie Frappart. The first female match official to take charge of a men’s FIFA #WCQ. #WorldCup ׀ #NEDLAT pic.twitter.com/wFmQwOXURp
— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) March 27, 2021
Frappart was the first woman to officiate a Ligue 1 match in 2019, two years after Bibiana Steinhaus became the first woman to officiate a Bundesliga match. In December, she became the first woman to officiate a men’s Champions League match , calling the Juventus-Dynamo Kyiv game. Oh and she also took charge of the 2019 Women’s World Cup final.
Frappart won’t be the last woman to officiate a men’s World Cup qualifier. On Sunday, Kateryna Monzul of Ukraine will be the center referee when Austria hosts the Faroe Islands.
Meanwhile in Concacaf, Karen Díaz Medina (assistant referee) and Francia González (fourth official) officiated Suriname’s 3-0 win over the Cayman Islands on Wednesday, becoming the first women to referee in a Concacaf men’s World Cup qualifier. Americans Kathryn Nesbitt, Jennifer Garner, Brooke Mayo and Tori Penso are also officiating men’s World Cup qualifiers in Concacaf as assistant refs or fourth officials.
Back in Amsterdam, Frappart saw the Netherlands bounce back from a surprising 4-2 defeat to Turkey earlier in the week thanks to this superb strike from Steven Berghuis.
Steven Berghuis channeling his inner Arjen Robben pic.twitter.com/zjBBNVQOUs
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 27, 2021
Luuk de Jong made it 2-0 in the 69th minute to ensure the Dutch picked up their first points of qualifying. The match was played before 5,000 fans at the Amsterdam Arena.
The Netherlands now sits tied with Norway in third place on three points, both having suffered defeats to Group G-leading Turkey. Montenegro also has six points through two matches, having beaten bottom-dwellers Gibraltar and Latvia.
