Sports
Six women included as FIFA names 52 referees ahead of World Cup
FIFA on Thursday announced its roster of match officials for the 2026 World Cup, set to run from June 11 to July 19. The list includes 52 referees, among them six women.
In addition, FIFA will deploy 88 assistant referees and 30 video match officials, representing all six confederations and 50 member associations worldwide.
“The selected match officials are the very best in the world,” said Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s chief refereeing officer.
“They were part of a wider pool of officials that was identified and monitored over the past three years. They have attended seminars and officiated at FIFA tournaments.
“In addition, their performances in domestic and international matches were regularly assessed.”
The World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the biggest in history, with a 48-team line-up and 104 matches to be played.
There are 41 more match officials than at Qatar four years ago, where 32 teams played 64 matches.
“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,” Collina said with six women having already refereed in 2022.

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