As Tori Penso blew the whistle alongside her assistants Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt ahead of the Group A match between Czechia and South Africa at Atlanta Stadium, it was only the second time a woman referee had officiated in a men’s FIFA World Cup match, and also the second time an all-woman trio had done so. At the 2022 Qatar World Cup, French referee Stéphanie Frappart became the first woman referee to officiate in a men’s FIFA World Cup match when she took charge of the group stage match between Germany and Costa Rica. Penso, 39, is one of two female referees assigned by FIFA for this World Cup out of a total of 52 referees, with Mexico’s Katia García being the other. Before making a career in refereeing, Penso worked as a marketing professional in an advertising agency. “There were no full-time female referees in the States, and so I didn’t really see it as a career. I did understand, though, that it was more than just a temporary job for me, and …