French referee Stéphanie Frappart to take charge of Ireland v Finland game

UEFA have assigned top referee Stéphanie Frappart to officiate the crunch Women’s World Cup qualifier between the Republic of Ireland and Finland at the sold-out Tallaght Stadium on Thursday night.

The 38-year-old French referee has officiated at the top level in both the men’s and women’s game.

She was the official in charge of the 2019 World Cup final between the United States and the Netherlands which saw the US lift the trophy thanks to goals from Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle.

Experience in refereeing in Ligue 1, she became the first female official to referee a major UEFA men’s game when she took charge of Super Cup clash between Liverpool and Chelsea in Istanbul in 2019.

In 2019 she also officiated the Dundalk v Linfield second leg of the ‘Unite the Union’ cup final at Oriel Park.

Irish assistant referee Michelle O’Neill was among the refereeing team working with Frappart for all those men’s matches.

The French referee took charge of her first Europa League game in October 2020 when she oversaw Leicester City and Zorya Luhansk.

She became the first woman to referee a men’s Champions League game when she took charge of Juventus’ clash with Dynamo Kyiv in December that year.

Last year she was the first women to officiate a men’s World Cup qualifier (The Netherlands v Lavia) and she is part of the refereeing panel for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

Thursday won't be her first match in Tallaght. She was the referee when Colin Bell's Ireland team lost 2-0 at home to the Dutch women's side in 2018.

Explainer: How to watch Ireland’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Finland? What do the Girls in Green need to do to make the play-off? How do the play-offs work? https://t.co/DY9Qnwyo6Tpic.twitter.com/ZRKd9BYzmg

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) August 31, 2022