The 2023 Women's World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, kicked off on Thursday (20) with a Group A match between world number 26 New Zealand and 12th-ranked Norway at Eden Park. In a match that broke New Zealand's record for the largest attendance at a local soccer match, the hosts came back with a one-goal win and their first-ever World Cup victory thanks to a goal by goal scorer Hannah Wilkinson.
With two countries co-hosting the Women's World Cup for the first time and the historic staging in the southern hemisphere, and with the increase in the number of participating teams from 24 to 32, the opening match was close to a sell-out, with a total of 42,137 fans attending the match, which is a record breaking attendance for New Zealand's soccer history. However, the two teams were not quite in the game in the first half, and many of their shots on goal were equally itchy, not to mention that they failed to hit the target in the goal, so they could only hand each other a whitewash.
