Two of the contenders for the title, the United States, which is looking for a third consecutive crown, and England, the current European champion, make their debut in the Women’s World Cup against two teams that are making their debut in this type of tournament, Vietnam and Haiti respectively.
A priori, neither Vietnamese nor Haitian should be rivals for two of the powers of this sport, and even everything that is not a win in favor of the Americans and the English would be a surprise.
The North Americans, four-time champions, including the last two (1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019), have several reasons for going for the five-time championship: “Obviously, we want to go down in history,” Alex Morgan already declared in Auckland, about the possibility of being the first country to win three consecutive titles.
And it will be the championship in which Megan Rapinoe, icon and image of women’s football in recent years, will say goodbye: “It is sad to think that this (cup) will be the last, she has done incredible things for this team. Let’s hope we can take it to the top,” Kelley O’Hara declared at a press conference.
Beyond seeing the veterans (Morgan, Rapinoe and O’Hara will play their fourth World Cup), the match against Vietnam will be the first opportunity to see the youngsters called to take over, such as Trinity Rodman -daughter of former NBA star Dennis Rodman-, Sophia Smith or Alyssa Thompson.
In group D the two games of the first day will be played. Despite the plague of injuries that have affected key players in last year’s European title (such as Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Fran Kirby), England remain the favorites of the draw, which they share with their first opponents Haiti, China and Denmark, who will meet in Perth.
The match to be played in Brisbane will also have the attraction of seeing Melchie Dumornay in action, the 19-year-old Haitian girl recently signed by French Lyon and who is destined to be one of the future stars of planetary football.
The day will end with the duel between Zambia, another of the rookie teams, and Japan, Spain’s main rival in Group C, which is playing today against Costa Rica.
However, from what has been shown in recent years, the Japanese do not seem to have the level of yesteryear that led them to win the World Cup in 2011.
Meanwhile, yesterday New Zealand and Australia opened the Women’s World Cup with home victories, both by a score of 1-0.
Both matches registered a cumulative attendance of more than 115,000 spectators, a record attendance for women’s football.
In the opening match of the opening day, New Zealand posted an upset win over Norway, their first win at a major tournament.
The New Zealand “Football Ferns” won with a score from forward Hanah Wilkinson in the 48th minute before 42,137 fans who braved the winter (austral) cold to support their team at Eden Park in Auckland.
The action then moved to Sydney, where Australia beat Ireland to a penalty kick from defenseman Steph Catley in front of 75,784 spectators, signaling the interest in this tournament that aims to be the most followed and profitable tournament in women’s football history.
The New Zealand triumph was the work of Hannah Wilkinson, a speedy and powerful striker who harnessed a low cross from Jacqui Hand to score the only goal of the game.
At the end of the game, the locals had the opportunity to increase the score with a penalty kick, but midfielder Ria Percival hit the tube.
The New Zealand players left visibly emotional and in tears after earning their first World Cup victory.
The expanded World Cup also improved the prize money, with $30,000 for each participating player.