New Zealand celebrate their first Women’s World Cup match win. Photo credit: FIFA via Twitter.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup has kicked off in style with the opener with New Zealand claiming the spoils. On what was a horrible day for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland with the shooting in a downtown construction site, the game provided a great place for the sold-out crowd to relax and watch some quality football. The crowd attendance was 42,137 and the highest for a football game in New Zealand ever. Both sides had good performances with Hannah Wilkinson standing out for New Zealand and Ada Hegerberg for Norway.
New Zealand had the first real chance of the game with Hannah Wilkinson having a runaway opportunity following a lobbed ball over the top of Norwegian players and Wilkinson managed to get the ball and make a quick run. The Norway defence was sloppy with Wilkinson able to get a shot away but it was sent over the crossbar. Norway’s first chance of the evening came a minute later with Ada Hegerberg getting the ball and crossing it into Aotearoa’s box but the Kiwis were able to clear. The chances were still coming for New Zealand with Indiah-Paige Riley having the next chance. She tried to cross it to Katie Bowen but couldn’t quite find her in the box. Bott then tried to cross the ball to Hassett and it nearly got to her, but was cleared away by Norway.
The first Norwegian corner was gained by Caroline Graham Hansen but it wasn’t much of a success for them with New Zealand being able to clear it out easily. Hegerberg had her second chance at the game, but she wasn’t able to get the shot on target as it flew over the bar. With Norwegian not being able to convert their opportunities and the New Zealand defence and attack going extremely well, the fouls started building up for them and they conceded three in a row, midway through the first half.
Malia Steinmetz was having a great game, and she kept grabbing her chances. She was able to split the defence to break away but overran it and wasn’t able to get the ball away with the Norwegian defender taking the ball off her. The attack from Aotearoa was going well, but they weren’t able to get through the defence of Norway. Steinmetz once again had a shot but it deflected off a Norway player and was picked up by Ria Percival who couldn’t get it to the New Zealand player in the box. Just before the halftime whistle, Hannah Wilkinson nearly had another opportunity for her country. Jacqui Hand passed the ball through to Wilkinson but Bjelde was able to make a slight deflection and send it for a corner which the Kiwis couldn’t capitalise from.
At halftime, the Kiwis were definitely in the box seat, having multiple chances to score but they couldn’t quite convert. With the scores locked at 0-0, it was going to be an exciting second half!
Just two minutes into the second half, New Zealand had the tournament’s first goal. Hand was passed the ball from her defenders and she sprinted down the side of the field, she crossed the ball to Wilkinson to get it past the Norwegian keeper and open the scoring for Aotearoa.
Frida Maanum nearly scored Norway’s first, the ball was tapped through to her by one of her players but she sent the ball just past the post. Soon after this, New Zealand had a chance down their end to double the score. Paige Riley had a great shot on goal but it was sent over the top by the keeper. CJ Bott ended up with the ball from the corner and she took a shot, but it was well wide as she slipped taking the shot.
The chances kept on coming for New Zealand, Betty Hassett was getting opportunities to get the ball up to her forwards. She tried to cross it to Paige Riley but couldn’t quite get it to her. Hassett then had another chance a couple of minutes later, running the ball down the line and giving it to Percival who got yet another corner for New Zealand. The corner didn’t go to plan for New Zealand, with the ball going all the attackers around the goal and Norway clearing it away. Hassett was making the passes click and was working well with Wilkinson who made another good run. Wilkinson sent the ball back to Percival who took a shot but she wasn’t able to score from it.
Graham Hansen took a shot on goal for Norway with about 8 minutes of normal time left. The shot hit the hand of the New Zealand keeper, Victoria Esson and hit the crossbar, but it sailed off and the Kiwis cleared it. With Norway not being able to convert their chances, they were getting frustrated. Emilie Haavi, had a yellow card go against her, after pushing into the back of a New Zealand player. With about a minute of normal time left, New Zealand were awarded a penalty via VAR for a handball by Hansen. Percival stood up to take the shot for her country but hit the post and the ball bounced back to Norway who were able to clear.
9 minutes of extra time was awarded, but Norway didn’t get much to convert, apart from a chance via Hegerberg who nearly poked the ball past Esson but it went wide of the post. As the time started ticking closer to full time the Kiwi fans had their shirts off and waved them around in the air.
Once the referee blew her whistle to signal full time the New Zealanders celebrated as they just picked up their first-ever victory at a Women’s Fifa World Cup. The final score read 1-0 to New Zealand.
A historic night, a game-changing moment. For everyone who came before, for the present and for the future 🖤🤍 #NZL #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/RtZ31uhNpr
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) July 20, 2023
