Sports

Making History: Yoshimi Yamashita is First Japanese Female Referee in a FIFA World Cup Match

Tokyo native Yoshimi Yamashita served as the fourth official for the Belgium-Canada FIFA World Cup match in Qatar in her latest high-profile assignment.

Published

1 year ago

November 24, 2022

Ed Odeven

Fourth official Yoshimi Yamashita works during the Belgium-Canada Group F match at the 2022 FIFA World Cup on November 23 in Al Rayyan, Qatar. (John Sibley/REUTERS)

This article first appeared on SportsLook, JAPAN Forward's dedicated sports website.

Yoshimi Yamashita made history as the first Japanese female referee to work in a FIFA World Cup match on Wednesday night, November 23.

The Belgium-Canada Group F match kicked off at 4 AM JST on Thursday.

Yamashita worked as the fourth official along with referee Janny Sikazwe and assistant referees Jerson Dos Santos and Arsenio Maringule at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.

Belgium won the match 1-0 in Al Rayyan, Qatar.

In October, Yamashita said she embraced the opportunity to work at the World Cup.

"I'm happy that I'm in a position capable of assuming responsibility as the first female referee," Yamashita was quoted as saying by The Mainichi Shimbun. "Rather than feeling pressure, I'd like to make the best of this to raise my motivation."

Read the full story on SportsLook.

Author: Ed Odeven

Follow Ed on JAPAN Forward's [Japan Sports Notebook] here on Sundays, in [Odds and Evens] here during the week, and Twitter ＠ed_odeven, and find him on JAPAN Forward's dedicated sports website, SportsLook.