Meet the 17 African football officials selected for the 2022 Qatar World Cup

Of the total 36 center referees already confirmed for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, 6 will be from Africa. while the rest have been distributed equally among other continents while 9 have been assigned the assistant referee role.

Of the six referees, one woman made it to the list and that is Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda and she is on a journey to write history when the tournament kicks off.

Mukansanga made football headlines this year when she became the first female referee to be cleared to officiate the AFCON.

1. Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda)

2. Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

3. Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

4. Victor Gomes (South Africa)

5. Maguette N’Diaye (Senegal)

6. Janny Sikazwe (Zambia)

1. Mahmoud Abouelregal (Egypt)

2. Djibril Camara (Senegal)

3. El Hadji Samba (Senegal)

4. Jerson Dos Santos (Angola)

5. Abdelhak Etchiali (Algeria)

6. Mokrane Gourari (Algeria)

7. Arsenio Marengule (Mozambique)

8. Elvis Noupue (Cameroon)

9. Zakhele Siwela (South Africa)

1. Rédouane Jiyed (Morocco)

2. Adil Zourak (Morocco)

The criteria used by FIFA to select the referees was was based on on their quality and the performances delivered at FIFA tournaments as well as at other international and domestic competitions in recent years.

“As always, the criteria we have used is quality first and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide,” said Pierluigi Collina.

“The 2018 World Cup was very successful, partly because of the high standard of refereeing, and we will do our best to be even better in a few months in Qatar.” She added.

Africa as a continent can't wait to see their own in the big tournament and as always, black is gold.