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On June 18, 2026, three American women walked onto the pitch in Atlanta and quietly rewrote the history of the world’s most-watched sporting event. Tori Penso served as referee, with Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt as assistant referees, forming the first all-American, all-women officiating crew ever assigned to a men’s World Cup match.
The game itself was a Group A contest between Czechia and South Africa.
A second act, not a first impression
Penso, Mayo, and Nesbitt previously officiated the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final together. Penso became only the second woman in history to referee a men’s World Cup match. She’s also the first American woman to do so.
FIFA appointed a record eight US Soccer referees for the 2026 World Cup, the second-most of any nation. The all-women configuration was a deliberate choice, not a mathematical inevitability.
The long road to the men’s game
The men’s World Cup has been played since 1930. It took 92 years before a woman refereed a match at the tournament. Penso is only the second to do it.
What made the 2023 Women’s World Cup final so important in retrospect is that it gave FIFA a data point. An all-American, all-women crew could handle the pressure of a final on the global stage. The 2026 assignment was, in some sense, a logical extension of that track record.
What this means for the future of officiating
The 2026 World Cup is being co-hosted by the US, Mexico, and Canada. The record eight US officials selected for the tournament reflect the dynamic of favorable referee allocations for host nations.
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