Referee Stéphanie Frappart disrupts narrative to make World Cup history

At a fiercely depoliticised tournament, the French official reminds host nation that women have a place in football

MAKING HISTORY: Referee Stephanie Frappart. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.

It is perhaps the biggest testament to the quality of the performance of the French referee Stéphanie Frappart and her assistants, Neuza Back of Brazil and Mexico’s Karen Díaz, that the coverage of such a historic men’s World Cup moment was muted to brief mentions.

In taking charge for Germany’s showdown with Costa Rica in the final round of games in Group E, Frappart became the first woman to officiate in a men’s World Cup and it felt decidedly normal.