• Fifty-four match officials from 36 Member Associations are officiating at this year’s tournament in Morocco
  • Sakina Hamidou Alfa is the first Nigerien woman to participate in a FIFA tournament
  • Kyrgyz Republic official Ramina Tsoi began refereeing for “pocket money”

The expansion of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup™ , now played annually and with 24 teams, has given players from more countries around the world the chance to perform on the global stage at an early age. This year, Australia, Puerto Rico and Argentina are appearing at the tournament for the first time, while Côte d’Ivoire, Samoa, Netherlands and Norway all made their debuts in 2025. But it is not just the players who are getting more chances to experience a global competition. For this year’s edition in Morocco, FIFA has brought together 54 match officials , all female, from 36 different Member Associations in a culturally diverse team.

As with the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026™ , held in Poland, the tournament will provide invaluable experience for the match officials as well as an opportunity for them to boost their chances of being selected for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027™ . “This is a really diverse group. We’re coming from different cultures, we have different backgrounds and we throw all of our good habits, our talents in the mix to make this group of referees here very successful,” said FIFA Head of Women’s Refereeing, Bibiana Steinhaus.

One of those match officials is Sakina Hamidou Alfa from Niger, the first woman from her country to participate in a FIFA tournament. She began refereeing in youth and amateur competitions and quickly learned that there is more to it than simply knowing the laws of the game.

“We also have the job of being able to handle pressure and crowds, so that we can make the right decisions in real time. I would describe my career as a football referee as a journey – a very difficult journey, but one I have navigated with passion and perseverance,” said Sakina, who began refereeing international matches in 2022. “That’s when I learnt that refereeing is a noble art. It’s a job that enables us to travel, to develop our personality.” FIFA has been with her all the way, she said: “FIFA has really made a lot of material available to me and, if I can just say, a great deal of support, too, to help me prepare for this competition. We recently received online courses in order to prepare for this competition, as well as a fitness follow-up, so I could meet the fitness standards required for elite level.” Meanwhile, Queency Victoire, a former player for the Mauritius national team, turned to refereeing after injury interrupted her career.

“It was a little tricky for me at the start, but personally, I had people who believed in me and spurred me on because, at that time, in 2012, we didn’t have an international referee. So, I was among the first, the pioneers, let’s say, of Mauritian refereeing at international level,” she said. She participated at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ , but says being selected for Brazil would have a special meaning. “In Brazil, it’s different because, for me, Brazil is the home of football. So, ever since I was little, football and Brazil have been a dream for me as a player. So being able to go there and take part in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the biggest competition of all, is something else entirely,” she said.

Like Victoire, Ramina Tsoi from the Kyrgyz Republic got into refereeing almost by chance. “I was just a 19-year-old girl who played football, who loved football. And so, just once, my team-mate asked me to go and officiate a kids’ game one Sunday, just for pocket money,” she explained.

“So, I went there, and I liked the experience. There, I met an assessor, who asked me if I want to be a referee. So, at that moment, I was between choosing to keep playing football or to become a referee. So, I chose refereeing.” Ramina said she saw more opportunities as a match official, travelling and meeting people and, like Victoire, she was an assistant referee at the 2023 edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™. “It’s like the greatest experience. And this was, for me, an opportunity to represent the AFC and also my country, Kyrgyzstan, on the world stage. So, for me it was a really special moment in my life.”

She also wants to “inspire new generations in my country to become referees, and to play sports. To show them that women even can… That they can achieve anything they want.” She added: “FIFA has played a really important role in my career as a referee by providing training programmes, by providing learning materials with the best instructors, here, in the world. And also by giving us (the) opportunity to officiate at the highest level, like this FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. So I’m really grateful for these opportunities. It makes me work harder and be a better referee.” Steinhaus said that being in the tournament gives the referees a “fantastic opportunity to prepare different styles and different cultures of football”. At the same time, they were learning the importance of consistency among referees at FIFA tournaments.

“We have the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 in Brazil coming up. We are talking about the pinnacle of women’s football. This is where not only players achieve to play and achieve to be part of it, but also match officials, of course, reaching for this opportunity,” she said. “We are preparing all the match officials to apply the same consistency within the Laws of the Game. It doesn’t matter from which area of the world you’re coming from – we apply the Laws of the Game consistently over those tournaments and over all the matches.”

The media photographer Muhanned al attabi