Michelle O’Neill misses out on World Cup final but is part of refereeing team for third place play-off

Michelle O'Neill

Michelle O'Neill Credit: Eddie Lennon (ETPhotos)

Irish assistant referee Michelle O’Neill will officiate at Saturday’s World Cup third place play-off between Australia and Sweden.

Having been part of the officiating panel for Sweden’s knock out win over Italy and Brazil’s 4-0 win over Panama in Adelaide, she will run the line in the play-off in Brisbane this weekend.

There will be disappointment that she won’t be part of back-to-back World Cup finals having officiated in the 2019 Women's World Cup Final.

However as O’Neill has been working with Welsh referee Cheryl Foster in this year’s tournament, the presence of the England team in the final probably meant having a referee from a close neighbouring country was always going to be unlikely.

The duo have been working together on games over the last year including this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League Final between Barcelona and Wolfsburg in the PSV Stadium and Women’s Super League games including Spurs against Brighton in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Everton and Arsenal game.

About Macdara Ferris

Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile