ATLANTA – They say well-behaved women seldom make history, but Thursday, the three American women making history at the men’s World Cup were in charge of the men’s behavior.
Referees Tori Penso, Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt officiated the group-stage match between Czech Republic and South Africa as the first all-American, all-women officiating crew at the World Cup.
“Female officials are capable, whether that be physically or mentally or technically,” Penso told the Treasure Coast Newspapers last June. “I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish so far. There’s still so much for us to do.”
Women referees were first used in the men’s tournament at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and one match that year – Germany vs. Costa Rica in the group stage – was officiated by three women: Stéphanie Frappart of France, Nezua Back of Brazil and Karen Díaz of Mexico.
Nesbitt was one of six women selected to officiate in Qatar, while Penso and Mayo made their men’s World Cup debut in Thursday’s match. All three were chosen to officiate at the 2024 Olympics and have been members of the FIFA officiating panel for years.
“This was an impossible dream for me, and just being able to witness females at this event now makes this realistic for all women,” Nesbitt told The Washington Post in 2022. “Whether it be in refereeing, whether it be in a different sport, whether it be in something completely different – sometimes just having a visual like that can make something actually be real. If I get to play even a small role in that, that’s really cool.”
Penso was the center official on Thursday, with Mayo and Nesbitt as the assistant referees working the sidelines. The trio has worked together several times: in the 2023 women’s World Cup final, the 2023 Club World Cup and the 2024 Concacaf Nations League.
Penso, 39, had a lengthy career in marketing, while staying involved in soccer as a part-time official, before making refereeing her full-time career in 2017. In 2020, she became the first woman to officiate a regular season MLS match since 2000.
Nesbitt, 37, took an even more unusual route to this stage. She earned her PhD in chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in 2015 and, after two years of postdoctoral research, spent two years as a professor at Towson University. But in 2019, Nesbitt stepped down to pursue her officiating career.
Mayo, also 37, used to balance her officiating career alongside working as an educator and coach in public schools. Before the 2023 women’s World Cup, she chose to focus on officiating full-time. But she intends to return to education as a middle school P.E. teacher in Colorado in the fall. She was named U.S. soccer’s 2025 female referee of the year in January.
In 2024, Mayo came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in a blog post for the National Intercollegiate Soccer Official Association. It’s believed that she is the first publicly out gay official at the men’s World Cup, which added a bit more history to the trio’s match on Thursday afternoon.
“Even though I view us as just a normal trio that has earned their place at this FIFA World Cup, I know we represent something bigger than ourselves,” Mayo told Yahoo Sports this week. “There is no limiting factor for you to achieve your dreams as long as you are willing to sacrifice, put in the work and take advantage when the opportunity comes.”
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