Costa Rica's last group-stage match against Germany is not just a must-win game for both sides, it will also mark a moment of football history as three women are officiating the Group E fixture.
Referee Stéphanie Frappart will become the first woman to take charge of a men's World Cup match having already written herself into the history books by officiating games in domestic and European competitions.
FIFA previously announced that women would officiate at the men's tournament for the first time ever, with football's governing body selecting Frappart alongside five other officials.
Here's everything you need to know about the women in the middle for Thursday's game:
Who is Costa Rica v Germany referee Stéphanie Frappart?
Frappart will become the first woman to take charge of a match at a men's World Cup after being selected to referee the Group E clash between Germany and Costa Rica on Thursday, December 1.
The 38-year-old will lead an all-women on-field team at the Al Bayt Stadium, having already made history at the tournament by becoming the first female official at a men's World Cup match, acting as the fourth official in the 0-0 draw between Mexico and Poland.
The French official began refereeing youth games at the age of 13 and took charge of national under-19 games by the time she was 18. In 2011, she refereed matches in the third division of men's football in France, before moving up a league to Ligue 2 three years later.
She was named among the officials for both the 2015 and 2019 Women's World Cups, taking charge of the final of the latter tournament, which was won by the United States.
Frappart has since written her name into the history books, becoming the first female referee in Ligue 1 in April 2019 before becoming the first woman to officiate in a major men's European match less than four months later when she took charge of the UEFA Super Cup clash between Liverpool and Chelsea.
In December 2020, she became the first woman to referee a men's Champions League match in a game between Juventus and Dynamo Kyiv, while she took charge of Netherlands' clash with Latvia in March 2021, becoming the first woman to officiate a World Cup qualifier.
Who will be her assistants?
Frappart will be joined by assistants Neuza Back and Karen Diaz for the game between Costa Rica and Germany, as part of the first-ever all-women refereeing team at a men's World Cup.
Back, of Brazil, made history when she was named as part of the first all-women refereeing trio for a men’s FIFA competition at the 2021 Club World Cup in Qatar, while she achieved the same feat later that year when Defensa y Justicia faced Independiente del Valle in the Copa Libertadores.
Meanwhile, Mexico's Diaz has already appeared at the tournament having been named as an assistant for Croatia’s 0-0 draw with Morocco last Wednesday, before taking on the same role for Portugal’s 3-2 victory over Ghana the following day.
How many female officials are at the World Cup in Qatar?
FIFA selected three female referees for this year's World Cup, with Frappart being joined in Qatar by Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda and Japan's Yoshimi Yamashita.
Mukansanga was the fourth official for France's opening game against Australia, making her the first African woman to officiate at the tournament, while she also became the first woman to referee at the African Cup of Nations earlier this year.
Yamashita, meanwhile, was the fourth official for England's group stage wins over Iran and Wales having previously refereed at the 2019 Women's World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, played in 2021.
There are also three female assistant referees at the tournament, with Kathryn Nesbitt of the USA joining Back and Diaz in Qatar. Nesbitt, who is also a chemistry professor, became the first woman to referee a championship match in professional men's sports in North America in 2020 when she took charge of the MLS Cup game between Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders and made her debut at this World Cup as the offside VAR official for Japan's win over Germany.
READ NEXT:
- Is Gareth Bale going to retire after the World Cup? Substituted star's future in question as Wales crash out
- Wales put out of World Cup misery by England as sobering tournament must signal changing of the guard
- Wales fan makes epic last-minute trip to Qatar to watch England match - without telling his girlfriend
