WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2023
Who is Ekaterina Koroleva, the referee for England vs Colombia at the 2023 Women’s World Cup?
England and Colombia meet in the World Cup quarter-finals in Sydney on Saturday, with a last-four clash against Australia or France at stake.
Referee Ekaterina Koroleva will take charge of England and Colombia’s Women’s World Cup quarter-final on Saturday, as the nations battle it out for the right to face Australia or France in the last four.
The Lionesses take on Las Cafeteras at Stadium Australia in Sydney at 6:30 a.m. ET/3:30 a.m. PT.
If you're in the US, you'll be able to watch England vs Colombia live online on fuboTV, which offers users a free trial.
Who is Ekaterina Koroleva?
A Russian-born American, Koroleva is working at her second Women’s World Cup, having gone to France 2019 as a fourth official.
She says she owes her refereeing career to her soccer intelligence - and the self-awareness to concede as a youngster that she lacked the talent to succeed as a player.
“Working our way through professional ranks, I just saw an increased level of players and skills, and I wanted to continue to be a part of that spectacle and the sport that’s really the greatest sport in the world,” she told an interview with MLS in March. “I was a young player who initially started refereeing to pay my club bills and with time, saw the limitations of my own playing skills, but still had a high enough soccer IQ that I wanted to be involved in the field and I really wanted to be a part of a spectacle of athletes perfecting their skill.”
Koroleva, who has been a FIFA-listed official since 2014, has refereed two games so far at the 2023 World Cup. She oversaw Sweden’s 2-1 win over South Africa on Group G matchday one, before being appointed to Japan’s 4-0 thumping of Spain in the final round of games in Group C.
Koroleva has shown four yellow cards in Australia and New Zealand - two in each game - and is yet to send any players off.
Koroleva’s previous meetings with England, Colombia
This will be the third time that the 36-year-old has crossed paths with both England and Colombia.
Koroleva took charge of the Lionesses’ 2-1 SheBelieves Cup defeat to Germany in March 2016, before running the rule over the side’s 1-0 victory over Japan in the same competition four years later.
Meanwhile, she was the fourth official for Colombia’s 1-1 draw with Trinidad and Tobago in the 2015 Pan American Games, and was the referee for the country’s 2-0 friendly reverse to the USWNT in June last year.
NWSL, USL referee in American soccer
Domestically, Koroleva referees in the NWSL, the elite women’s division in the US, and in the USL Championship, which is the country’s second tier of men’s soccer. In 2015, she was chosen as the whistler for the NWSL Championship final between Seattle Reign and Kansas City.
Koroleva has also worked as a fourth official and video assistant referee in MLS, the top division in US men’s league soccer.
England vs Colombia: Koroleva’s officiating team in full
Koroleva’s assistant referees will be fellow Americans Kathryn Nesbitt and Felisha Mariscal, and the fourth official will be South Korea’s Oh Hyeon-Jeong.
The video assistant referee (VAR) will be Canada’s Carole Anne Chenard, and the assistant VAR will be the United States’ Armando Villarreal. The offside VAR will be Singaporean Muhammad Taqi.