Joel, who hails from New Kru Town, is part of a prestigious list of 27 referees and 54 assistant referees chosen from across the world for the tournament, which runs from 3-27 November 2025 and features 48 teams from six confederations.
Monrovia – FIFA-badged assistant referee Joel Wonka Doe has been selected among the officials for the 2025 FIFA Men’s Under-17 World Cup in Qatar, marking another major breakthrough for Liberian refereeing on the global stage.
Joel, who hails from New Kru Town, is part of a prestigious list of 27 referees and 54 assistant referees chosen from across the world for the tournament, which runs from 3-27 November 2025 and features 48 teams from six confederations.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will be represented by four referees and eight assistant referees, a sign of FIFA’s increasing confidence in the quality of African officials who have steadily excelled at elite competitions.
CAF’s balanced representation — pulling referees from all regions of the continent — highlights its investment in grooming officials from grassroots to professional levels.
For Joel, the call-up is the latest milestone in a career that has risen from humble beginnings in New Kru Town to some of the continent’s biggest stages.
Since earning his FIFA badge in 2019, Doe has officiated in Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers, as well as matches in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup.
He is currently officiating at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals jointly hosted by Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, having previously featured at the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in 2023, the WAFU Zone ‘A’ tournament in Mauritania (2022), and Guinea (2019).
One of the standout moments of his emerging career came at the Cairo International Stadium on 11 March 2023, when he served as assistant referee in Senegal’s 2-0 win over Gambia during the Africa U-20 finals.
Joel’s appointment to the World Cup is being celebrated as a symbol of resilience and progress for Liberian football officials, proving that even from one of Monrovia’s slum communities, hard work and consistency can lead to the world’s biggest stage
