The match was another milestone for Frappart, who in December became the first female official to take charge of a men's Champions League match when Italian champions Juventus defeated Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv 3-0 in the group stage in Turin.
Stephanie Frappart (France) has been a fantastic referee for decades, an international FIFA referee since 2009, and now *finally* gets to officiate a men's world cup qualifier today. Many other women will follow in the hundreds of games coming up now...
— Joss Bland-Hawthorn (@JossBlandHawtho) March 27, 2021
History!@FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/EbYoAScJGT
The 37-year-old was also the first woman to referee in the French top flight, the lead official for the 2019 UEFA Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea and made her Europa League debut in October.
Netherlands beat Latvia 2-0 but the real story was Stephanie Rappart, first woman to referee a World Cup qualifier pic.twitter.com/8AiLHR3n1s
— Stephen Vincent 🌊🌈🐤🐕🦺🇦🇺🇳🇿🇳🇱 (@Stephenheid) March 27, 2021
Netherlands bounce back
In the match, the Netherlands rebounded from a 4-2 midweek defeat in Turkey to get their World Cup qualification back on track, beating Latvia 2-0, with Steven Berghuis and Luuk de Jong scoring either side of halftime.
Turkey continued its strong start with a 3-0 victory over Norway to go top on goal difference.
Montenegro beat Gibraltar 4-1.
Ronaldo storms off
Cristiano Ronaldo stormed off after he failed to score as Portugal were held 2-2 by Serbia — though TV replays indicated he did put the ball over the line — while top-ranked Belgium could only salvage a 1-1 draw in the Czech Republic. On a night when underdogs tested big names, Luxembourg pulled off the biggest shock of all to beat Ireland 1-0.
Gerson Rodrigues scored with five minutes remaining to humble the Irish, who remain winless in 10 games under coach Stephen Kenny.
Belarus twice came from behind to kick off its World Cup qualification campaign with a 4-2 win over 10-man Estonia.
Hard work for Croatia
Croatia looked nothing like the team which reached the World Cup final in 2018, but they at least ended their five-game winless run with a 1-0 win over Cyprus.
Russia beat Slovenia 2-1 to pick up their second win. Malta earned a rare point in a 2-2 draw with Slovakia.
(with AP, Reuters)
