Mexico v Cameroon and France v Canada get the tournament underway on 31 August
Total of 58 female match officials will take charge of games in Colombia
Football Video Support (VS) to be trialled at the tournament
Match officials have been confirmed for the opening round of matches of the FIFA Women's U-20 World Cup 2024™, the first edition of the tournament to feature 24 teams.
Marta Huerta, who last month became the first referee in Spain to be promoted to men’s professional football, will take charge the fixture between Mexico and debutants Cameroon, one of two games which will simultaneously kick off the tournament on Saturday 31 August. She will be assisted by fellow Spaniards Guadalupe Porras and Eliana Fernández with Vincentia Amedome of Togo as the fourth official. At the same time, Fangyu Dong of China will oversee the match between France and Canada, assisted by compatriots Lijun Xie - who earlier this year became the first woman to referee a men’s Chinese Super League match - and Mengxiao Bao with Susana Corella of Ecuador as the fourth official.
The host nation's eagerly-awaited opening match against Australia will be refereed by Ivana Martinčić of Croatia, supported by compatriot Maja Petravić and Staša Špur of Slovenia, with Amedome as the fourth official. Crystal Sobers will take charge when debutants Fiji face Brazil, aided by fellow Trinidadians Carissa Douglas-Jacob and Melissa Nicholas, with Corella as the fourth official. A total of 58 women match officials, including 18 referees, 36 assistant referees and four support referees, will take charge of the matches during the competition.
Titleholders Spain’s opening match, against USA on Sunday 1 September, will be officiated by a Uruguayan trio of referee Anahí Fernández and assistants by Daiana Fernández and Belén Clavijo, with Casey Reibelt of Australia as fourth official. Natalie Simon (USA) will referee the Germany v Venezuela match, assisted by compatriots Meghan Mullen and Kali Smith with Mexico’s Lizzet García as the fourth official.
Iuliana Demetrescu (Romania), aided by Svitlana Grushko (Ukraine) and Amina Gutschi (Austria), will referee Paraguay’s match against debutants Morocco, with Reibelt as the fourth official. The Mexican trio of referee Karen Hernández and assistants Jéssica Morales and Elva Gutiérrez will take charge of Nigeria v Korea Republic, aided by fourth official García.
Veronika Bernatskaia of Kyrgyz Republic will take charge of the Ghana v Austria match on 2 September, assisted by compatriot Ramina Tsoi and Nuannid Donjangreed of Thailand with Amedome as the fourth official.
The match between Korea DPR and Argentina will be officiated by Ivana Projkovska (North Macedonia), assisted by Linda Schmid (Switzerland) and Camille Soriano (France), with Reibelt as the fourth official.
A Chilean trio of referee Dione Rissios and assistants Marcia Castillo and Leslie Vásquez will officiate in the Japan v New Zealand match, with Amedome as fourth official. Costa Rica v Netherlands will be refereed by Natacha Konan (Côte d'Ivoire), assisted by Carine Fomo (Cameroon) and Fidès Bangurambona (Burundi), and Reibelt as fourth official.
History will be made in Colombia with the trial of Football Video Support (VS), a simplified alternative to video assistant referees (VAR), as FIFA continues to drive the use of technology to help referees.