Co-hosts New Zealand began the Women’s World Cup with an almighty shock as they beat Norway 1-0 to record the country’s first win at a finals.
Neither the New Zealand men’s nor the women’s team had claimed a World Cup finals victory before, but Hannah Wilkinson finished off a superb team goal three minutes after half-time to seal a historic victory.
Norway, the 1995 World Cup winners, were poor on the ball with Arsenal midfielder Frida Maanum guilty of missing two big chances in either half. Late on, Tuvan Hansen was denied a late equalizer by New Zealand goalkeeper Victoria Esson, who tipped a long-range effort onto the crossbar.
New Zealand had a great chance to seal the victory when they were awarded a late penalty by VAR – with referee Yoshimi Yamashita addressing the 42,000-strong crowd via the loudspeaker about the decision under new regulations being trialled by FIFA. Ferns midfielder Ria Percival, however, struck the bar with the spot-kick
But the evening still belonged to New Zealand who, in front of a record crowd for a women’s football match in their country, held firm despite 10 minutes of stoppage time to get the Women’s World Cup up and running in style.
Norway’s Frida Maanum reacts after missing a chance
More to follow.
What is the schedule?
The group stage has begun and runs over a two-week period finishing on Aug 3 Group winners and runners-up progress to the round of 16, which takes place from Aug 5 to Aug 8.
The quarter-finals, which will be held in Wellington, Auckland, Brisbane and Sydney, are scheduled for August 11 and 12.
The first semi-final will then be played on August 15 in Auckland, with the other semi-final taking place on Aug 16 at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, which will then host the final on Aug 20.
A third-place play-off will be played the day before the final on Aug 19 in Brisbane.