President Sheinbaum calls her an inspiration for girls around the world.
On Monday, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) announced that Mexican referee Katia Garcia will officiate the Group F match between Tunisia and the Netherlands, which will take place in Kansas City on Thursday.
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“Congratulations to Katia. Look at how all the stigmas and perceptions that existed about women are being broken,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said during her news conference on Monday.
“Among other things, it is because of Katia’s efforts. Obviously. Congratulations to her, and she is an example for all the girls in Mexico and around the world . Women can be whatever we want to be. Congratulations, truly. She is an example,” Sheinbaum said.
Garcia, who was born in 1992, follows the path opened at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by French referee Stephanie Frappart, who officiated the Germany-Costa Rica group-stage match, and by American referee Tori Penso, who officiated Thursday’s Group A match between the Czech Republic and South Africa.
For the first time in tournament history, six female referees were selected for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup #2026WorldCup.
While out of the six selected Katia Garcia of Mexico will officiate as center referee
The rest will stand as second referee and Var assistant pic.twitter.com/XIQF9Y8eZZ
— just__dreamit (@just__dreamit) June 12, 2026
The Mexican referee, who also officiated at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics, will be assisted by Mexican Sandra Ramirez, Spain’s Jose Naranjo and Paraguay’s Juan Benitez.
At this World Cup, Garcia has already served as the fourth official in the Netherlands-Japan, England-Croatia and United States-Australia matches.
Meanwhile, Tori Penso has been appointed to officiate the Group E match between Ecuador and Germany, which will also be played Thursday at New York/New Jersey Stadium.
“It is nothing more than a statistic.” Lionel Messi after surpassing Ronaldo’s mark as one of the all-time leading scorers in World Cup history.#FIFAWorldCup #Argentina #Messi #Ronaldo #Klose pic.twitter.com/qrGKH4GNs9
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) June 17, 2026
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Source: EFE
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