Tori Penso Biography – Tori Penso Wiki

Tori Penso, a distinguished American soccer referee, embarked on her officiating journey at the tender age of 14. Since joining the ranks of FIFA referees in 2013, she has brought her expertise to Major League Soccer and the National Women’s Soccer League. Her impressive career reached a global stage when she officiated during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia. Now, the Florida native is poised to make history by officiating at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Referee Career Beginnings

Penso’s passion for soccer ignited when she was just 10 years old, after her mother introduced her to the sport. Her family played a pivotal role in her early refereeing days in Stuart, Florida. “My brothers were referees in local leagues,” she recounted to FIFA.com. Inspired, she told her mother at 14 that she wanted to earn her own money. Her mother suggested she do so on the soccer fields she frequented, thus beginning her journey officiating boys’ and girls’ games.

By 18, Penso had not only saved enough to buy her first car from her refereeing earnings but also earned a spot at a refereeing camp organized by the Olympic Development Program in Texas. Juggling her passion for soccer with her university studies in marketing, she initially didn’t envision refereeing as a career. It was only after meeting Chris Penso, a fellow referee who would become her husband and the father of their three daughters, that she considered leaving her advertising job to pursue officiating full-time.

Trailblazer

In 2019, Penso transitioned from hobbyist to professional referee, quickly achieving significant milestones. In September 2020, she broke a two-decade hiatus by becoming the first woman to officiate an MLS match. Her trailblazing continued into 2021 as she became the first woman to lead an all-female officiating team in a Concacaf men’s competition and refereed a FIFA World Cup qualifying match.

Penso’s career soared in 2022 when she officiated five matches at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica, including a semi-final. Her expertise was further recognized at the FIFA World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023, where she officiated the final between Spain and England on August 20 in Sydney.

Her accomplishments continued with her role at the 2024 Olympics in France, and in 2025, she was among the elite 35 referees at the FIFA Club World Cup. Looking ahead, Penso is set to break new ground as the first American woman to officiate a men’s World Cup match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA World Cup 2026

Florida native Tori Penso is set to become the first American woman to be the head referee in a men’s World Cup match at the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026. While Penso will be the first American woman to work as the head referee on a men’s World Cup game, Kathryn Nesbitt was the first to work a men’s World Cup match in an official capacity, serving as an assistant referee in Qatar in 2022. Nesbitt will also be an assistant referee in this World Cup. In 2022, France’s Stéphanie Frappart became the first woman to referee a men’s World Cup match.

The FIFA Team One cohort includes 52 referees, 88 assistant referees and 30 video match officials, who hail from all six confederations and 50 Member Associations, in what is the most comprehensive line-up of match officials in FIFA World Cup™ history. The appointments were made on the basis of FIFA’s long-standing “quality first” principle, while consideration was given to the consistency of the performances delivered by candidates at FIFA tournaments, as well as in international and domestic competitions in recent years.

Tori Penso Age

She was born Mary Victoria Hancock on July 8, 1986, in Stuart, Florida, United States. She is 39 years old.

Tori Penso Husband

Referee Tori Penso is married to her husband, Chris Penso, also a professional referee. He has worked professional matches since 2009 in the Major League Soccer (MLS) and various international competitions. The couple met at Florida State University.

Tori Penso Family

FIFA referee Tori Penso and her husband, Chris Penso, have three daughters.

Salary

At the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the tournament’s managerial body set a $70,000 basic pay for match referees. A match referee is paid $3,000 for the group stage and $10,000 for the playoffs or final, as per the publication as. A referee who officiates all competitions, including the final, can earn up to $300,000.

Tori Penso Height

US referee Tori Penso is 6-foot-tall.