July 20 – On a historic night for Kiwi football, New Zealand got their World Cup party underway in style with a deserved 1-0 against a lacklustre Norway to claim a first-ever victory at the finals.
The hosts belied their underdog status, playing their hearts out in a nail-biting 90 minutes at Eden Park, the home of the All Blacks, to win by the narrowest of margins in what local media called an ‘upset for the ages’.
Certainly, it was a historic win for the home nation who in their past five World Cup participations had failed to win a single game. Hannah Wilkinson grabbed the winner in the 47th minute following a sweeping one-touch move over the right. Central defenders Katie Bowen and Rebekah Stott as well as Ria Percival enjoyed an outstanding match.
“This World Cup will wake up a lot of passion in football and one of our goals and our priorities as a team is that we want to keep inspiring, with those performances, like tonight, and having the win in our pocket is some bonus,” reflected New Zealand coach Jitka Klimkova during a news conference.
After a day of stark contrasts in New Zealand’s capital, years of meticulous planning, preparation, and organisation culminated in the grand opening game of the Women’s World Cup between the hosts and the esteemed 1995 world champions.
The morning in Auckland had been marred by the sombre echoes of gunshots, marking a tragic and fatal shooting incident. As a sign of respect, flags flew at half-mast, and a solemn minute of silence was observed before kick-off.
The colourful and brief opening ceremony lifted the spirits on a cold, windy and wet night at Eden Park. Fans from around the world, from Brazil to Hawaii, were given a poi (Maori word for ball) with a QR code explaining māori culture. ‘God Defend New Zealand’ reverberated around the stadium and the countdown was over.
The Ferns excelled at frustrating their opponents. They had come into the tournament in terrible form, leaking 35 goals and scoring just five in the first 14 matches under coach Jitka Klimkova, but in Auckland, they were galvanized by a once-in-a-lifetime moment and showcase for the game.
At the same time, it was almost incomprehensible how lethargic Norway with Ada Hegerberg, Caroline Graham Hansen and plenty of champions at the club level played.
“It was a frustrating game for us on the bench and for the players out on the pitch,” said Norway coach Hege Riise. “We didn’t deliver what we are capable of and there could be many reasons for that. They were very much on the edge. They won the first and the second balls. We started to hesitate and didn’t find any rhythm. It’s shit to stand here and know that we are not even close to what we can be.”
New Zealand dominated the match and scripted a dream scenario with Wilkinson’s goal. They even missed a late penalty when Malia Steinmetz rattled the woodwork from the spot and survived 9 minutes of nervous injury as they dropped deeper and deeper, but in the end, they held on and found themselves in football heaven, much to the delirium of the largest crowd ever for a football match in New Zealand.
Thursday’s match was attended by 42,137 people, surpassing the 37,034 that attended the 2017 World Cup playoff between the All Whites and Peru in Wellington.
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