Stéphanie Frappart is in charge of the group match between Costa Rica and Germany on Thursday. FIFA’s refereeing appointment is a historic one.
The scoop of a first female arbitrator was already in the air. The world football association selected 36 referees for the global final tournament, including three women. Stéphanie Frappart, Salima Mukansanga and Yozhimi Yamashita have played supporting roles so far, but that is about to change. Frappart must lead the duel between Costa Rica and Germany in the right direction. The Germans must win that match to avoid World Cup elimination.
For Frappart, leading a World Cup competition is another highlight in her career. The 38-year-old Frenchwoman has been active in Ligue 1 matches since 2019 and was also in charge of the European Super Cup battle between Liverpool and Chelsea in that year. In 2020 she made her debut in the Champions League.
Scenarios in which Germany can progress
Germany has only taken one point in the first two group matches, but still has a good chance of reaching the round of 16. We have listed the scenarios after the 1-1 between Spain and Germany.
It is clear that Spain is the favorite to become group winner. The scenario in which things go wrong for the Spaniards is very unlikely. The team of national coach Luis Enrique then has to lose to Japan and either Costa Rica has to win against Germany or the Germans have to win against Costa Rica and make up the difference in goal difference. Looking at the goal difference, Spain has an eight-goal advantage over Germany after two matches.
For Germany, the assignment is very simple: they must beat Costa Rica and then hope for a favorable result with Spain – Japan. If Germany wins and Spain wins, then Germany is through. If Germany wins by at least two goals and there is a draw between Spain and Japan, Germany is also through.
