Tori Penso will become the first American to take charge of a World Cup final after being appointed as the referee for Sunday’s fixture between Spain and England.
Penso will be assisted by compatriots Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt to complete an all U.S. team of on-field officials.
Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan will be Sunday’s fourth official at Stadium Australia and Tatiana Guzman of Nicaragua will be on VAR duty.
The on-field team of Penso, Mayo and Nesbitt also officiated the semi-final between Australia and England.
The trio of women previously made history in 2021 by being part of the first group of women to referee men’s World Cup qualifying matches.
Penso left her job in advertising after the 2019 World Cup to pursue a full-time refereeing career and became the first full-time female referee in Major League Soccer the following year.
She earned her first FIFA badge in 2021 when she was the lead referee for a SheBelieves Cup game between Canada and Argentina.
The World Cup final will be her fifth assignment of this summer’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
Assistant referee Nesbitt was the first female assistant referee to officiate a men’s CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying match, the first woman to referee a championship match in professional men’s sports in North America and the first woman to officiate a CONCACAF League Final.
The World Cup final between Spain and England takes place on August 20 at 5am ET (11am BST).
(Photo: Ulrik Pedersen/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
