Female referee to take charge of England’s World Cup qualifier in Andorra

An England match will be refereed by a woman for the first time when Kateryna Monzul takes charge of Saturday’s World Cup qualifier in Andorra.

Monzul will officiate the match at the Estadi Nacional, with UEFA’s official website confirming her fellow Ukrainians Maryna Striletska and Svitlana Grushko as assistant referees.

France’s Stephanie Frappart will be the VAR, with the fourth official and assistant VAR roles filled by men – Denys Shurman and Vikor Matyash respectively.

Monzul has refereed men’s matches before, becoming the first woman to take charge of a senior men’s international game for the Nations League clash between San Marino and Gibraltar in 2020.

She was also in the middle for Austria’s 3-1 World Cup qualifying win over Faroe Islands in March.

Her assistants in Vienna were both male, including Matyash, whereas this weekend the on-pitch team will be all-female.

Speaking when Monzul and Frappart were announced as referees for the March fixtures, Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA’s referees committee said: “FIFA will continue to champion the development of female refereeing and I’m confident that the appointment of female match officials to men’s games will be absolutely commonplace in the future.”

Monzul, 40, has refereed at four Women’s World Cups, including the final in 2015 when the United States beat Japan 5-2.