MIAMI, Florida – In addition to six teams from the Concacaf region having participated in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, it has also been a successful tournament thus far for Concacaf referees, who have taken center stage in Australia/New Zealand.
Of the 107 referees selected by the FIFA Referees Committee for the Women’s World Cup, 21 hailed from the Concacaf region across seven different Member Associations: United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Suriname.
At the conclusion of the Round of 16, there were 12 matches appointed to Concacaf Referees and Assistant Referees, already surpassing the total number of matches appointed to Concacaf Referees at the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar.
Concacaf Support Referees, which are the Fourth Officials, were appointed to 11 matches, while 26 matches were appointed to Concacaf Video Match Officials (VAR, Assistant VAR or Offside VAR).
Concacaf Referees have also been present in the Knockout Stage of the tournament.
The Round of 16 match between England and Nigeria saw Melissa Borjas of Honduras serve as the Referee, while Shirley Perello (HON) and Sandra Ramirez (MEX) worked as Assistant Referees. Armando Villarreal (USA), Drew Fischer (CAN) and Felisha Mariscal (USA) were the VAR, AVAR and OVAR, respectively.
Another Concacaf refereeing trio officiated the France-Morocco Round of 16 match, with Tori Penso of the United States as the Referee and Brooke Mayo (USA) and Mijensa Rensch (SUR) as Assistant Referees.
The upcoming quarterfinals will also have a strong Concacaf presence.
Ekaterina Koroleva of the United States will serve as the Referee for the England-Colombia quarterfinal. Koroleva will be joined by Assistant Referees Kathryn Nesbitt (USA) and Felisha Mariscal (USA), while Carol Anne Chenard (CAN), Armando Villarreal (USA) and Chantal Boudreau (CAN) will be the VAR, AVAR and OVAR.