The main of every competition is for fans to enjoy the best of it and even if the timing of the games there in Oceania is not so friendly with the scheduled here in the West of Africa, the FIFA Women’s World Cup has so far treated enthusiasts to priceless and plentiful moments of delight albeit in the early days.
From co-host, New Zealand picking up their first ever win in the tournament history by ousting Norway in the curtain raiser, despite the latter parading superstars from some of the best clubs in the world.
Eight new countries making their debut in the ninth edition, and the first ever 32 nation format of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, New Zealand and Australia prove worthy as the host, and the showing there so far is evident that women’s football is growing and in fast pace.
Despite missing their main player in Sam Kerr, fans troop out in thousands to witness Australia’s first match in the tournament, with 75, 784 recorded, a new record of spectors for a single Women’s game.
The game, played inside the Stadium Australia in Sydney, ended with a Steph Catley’s first half penalty helping the host to a 1-0 win over debutant, the Republic of Ireland.
Interestingly, each of the first eight games in the tournament produced penalties, with Steph Catley as mention earlier and the two of Georgia Stanway and Ramona Bachmann all scoring crucial ones for England and Switzerland respectively.
Also scorer of penalties was Japan’s Riko Ueki in the closing moments of their 5-0 thrashing of debutant, Zambia.
Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie made herself the hero in her country’s clash with Olympic Champions, Canada, as she made a sensational save to deny Christine Sinclair from the spot six minutes into the second half of their goalless draw in Melbourne.
Costa Rica’s Daniela Solera and Vietnam’s Tran Thi Kim Thanh denied Jennifer Hermoso of Spain and Alex Morgan of the United States respectively, but those were no consolation as their sides eventually lost by wide margins in the end.
Ria Percival of New Zealand was the only one to completely miss the goal and a first round of group games was rounded up by another game which saw a penalty, as Catalina Usme converted for Colombia after South Korea were penalized for a handball.
In that match, 18-year old Linda Caicedo became the second youngest South American to score in a FIFA Women’s World Cup finals, only behind Marta of Brazil in 2007, when she doubled Colombia’s lead before the break.
Also in the match, Casey Phair, 16-years 26 days, came on 12 minutes from time to set a new record as the youngest player to feature in a FIFA World Cup tournament, Men’s or Women’s — breaking the record of Nigeria’s Ifeanyi Chiejine, 16-yrs 34 days.
Morocco also made history as they become the first Arab nation to feature in a FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament. Unfortunately, their day did not end in celebration as they were completely outclassed by Germany in a 6-0 scoreline.
Alexandra Popp bagged a brace, already equaled her tally in the tournament four years ago while Klara Buhl and Lea Schuller also got one each.
To cap off a humiliating outing, the Moroccan players produced two own goals as they could no longer withstand the pressure mounted by the two time winners.
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Japan has produced the second biggest win so far, beating another debutant in Zambia by five goals to nothing. Hitana Miyazawa was the star of the game as she bagged a brace to set the tune for the win.
Ary Borges became the first and the only player to score a hat-trick in the first round of the group games in this year’s edition having led Brazil to a 4-0 win over debutant, Panama.
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In doing so, Borges becomes the fifth woman ever, to score a hat-trick on their World Cup debut after Gaelle Enganamoult, Mio Otani, Kristin Sandberg and Carolina Morace.
The Racing Louisville midfielder scored the opening two goals before assisting the third with a selfless play to set up Beatriz. Borges completed her hat-trick 20 minutes from time in a show of cheer dominance by the South American.
Sophia Smith was highly tipped to lead the United States’ quest for their title defence and she did not disappoint, hitting the ground running with two goals and one assist in a 3-0 win over debutant, Vietnam.
Vietnam, who had never feature in a FIFA senior tournament before the 2023 edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup were not so lucky to be drawn in the same group as the record winners.
They have their Goalkeeper, Tran Thi Kim Thanh to thank for her heroics, despite the scoreline. She made a total of five good saves, including a penalty save to deny Alex Morgan.
Spain also hit the ground running despite missing a penalty through Jennifer Hermoso. They had sealed the match in the opening 27 minutes, when Aitana Bonmati and Esther Gonzalez had scored to make it 3-0, adding to Valeria Del Campo’s opening own goal.
Making their second tournament appearance, Switzerland got off to a winning start, recording a second win ever in their short history in the competition thanks to goals from Ramona Bachmann and Seraina Puibel.
England felt the impact of the injuries, which see a host of their important players miss the tournament as they struggled to overcome debutant, Haiti, which Georgia Stanway’s retaken penalty the only difference between the two sides in Brisbane.
Stefanie van de Gragt’s header inside the opening 13 minutes was all it takes as the Netherlands edge debutant, Portugal in their opening game in the tournament.
Each of Gragt’s previous nine goals for her country have all come from headers.
Banyana Banyana of South Africa were the only side to lose after taking a lead in the first round of group games as Sweden battled back to take all three points in the Wellington Regional Stadium.
Hilda Magaia opened the scoring three minutes after the restart. Barcelona midfielder, Fridolina Rolfo restored parity after the mark before new Arsenal defender, Amanda Ilestedt scored the winner in the final minute of normal time.
Critiana Girelli scored an 87th minute winner, four minutes of coming off the bench to help Italy topple Argentina in their clash in the Eden Park in Auckland.
Reggae girls, Jamaica held France to a scoreless draw in the other stalemate aside that of Nigeria and Canada.
That was how it went in the first round of group games in New Zealand / Australia 2023. A lot of upset already happening in the second round of group games. Wait for it in the next episode of our FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 summary.
Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
