New Zealand’s Hannah Wilkinson celebrates scoring the first goal with her teammates during the Women’s World Cup soccer match between New Zealand and Norway in Auckland, New Zealand, July 20, 2023. RAFAELA PONTES / AP
It is a competition that wants to be historic. The Women’s World Cup opened on Thursday, July 20, with excitement for New Zealand and Australia, host nations both victorious at the start with record attendance. First World Cup with 32 teams, first World Cup in the southern hemisphere, first World Cup co-organized by two countries: the 736 players summoned for this edition hope to take their discipline to a new level, four years after the successful edition in France.
More than 115,000 spectators, in total, attended the two inaugural matches of the tournament. And they were spoiled, with the surprise victory of the New Zealanders against the Norwegians (1-0) and the more expected victory of the Australians against the Irish (1-0). The New Zealand public answered the call, with 42,137 spectators amassed in the famous Eden Park – a record for a football match in the archipelago, according to the local Federation.
As for fans of the Australian “Matildas”, they have also established a historic home mark for women’s football, with 75,784 spectators counted in the Stadium Australia, legendary theater of the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The organizers hope that this fervor will accompany during a month of competition (until August 20) this ninth edition of the Women’s World Cup, scheduled to accelerate the development of the discipline, between growing professionalization and commitments to equality.
Read also: 2023 World Cup: Les Bleues fail against Australia and may lose Selma Bacha, injured at the end of the match
Sam Kerr injured
On the pitch, the New Zealand “Football Ferns” were up to the challenge, against the Norway of the former Lyonnais Ballon d’Or Ada Hegerberg, during an opening match which got carried away after half-time. A goal from striker Hannah Wilkinson (48th) gave them a first victory (1-0) in the competition, on their sixteenth attempt.
2,000 kilometers to the west, it was Arsenal player Steph Catley who put on the heroine costume by converting a penalty in the 52nd minute. A moment of chills for an entire sold-out stadium and well beyond. The place of Federation Square in Melbourne, where a giant screen was installed, notably let burst its joy despite the cold of this austral winter night.
The “ola” deployed in the stadium almost made us forget the injury of the offensive star and Australian captain, Sam Kerr, hit in the calf on Wednesday and forfeited for at least two games. A big blow for the “Aussies”, especially if the absence extends beyond July 31, date of the clash of group B against the Canadian Olympic champions.
Also read the forum: Article reserved for our subscribers “The development of women’s football is central, because it allows the expression of new values”
Shooting in Auckland
The two opening matches, charged with emotion, were preceded by a minute of silence in tribute to the two people who died in an earlier shooting in central Auckland. The incident, unrelated to the tournament according to FIFA, disrupted the preparation of several selections in the vicinity, including the double holders of the American title. FIFA and the New Zealand authorities have assured that there are no particular concerns related to security around the competition.
Read also: Fatal shooting in Auckland, the day of the opening of the Women’s World Cup
“This trophy is going to become iconic and we will see some exceptional matches here. The world will watch”enthused Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, who expects ” a celebration “ of women’s football, eight months after a decried Men’s World Cup in Qatar. This context is accompanied by historically high FIFA allocations: 152 million dollars promised to the teams, three times more than in 2019 and ten times more than in 2015.
Newsletter
« Paris 2024 »
“Le Monde” deciphers the news and the challenges of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Register
But this acceleration is accompanied by doubts around the state of health of the players. Many stars, such as the Frenchwoman Marie-Antoinette Katoto or the Englishwoman Beth Mead, withdrew due to a serious knee injury. This competition in the southern hemisphere, which takes place in July and August, also raises the question of television audiences in the major footballing countries, who will sometimes have to get up early to watch the matches due to the time difference. FIFA narrowly avoided an audiovisual fiasco by signing last-minute broadcast deals in Europe and Japan.
Also read the column: Article reserved for our subscribers Women’s Football World Cup: “The ‘delay’ in women’s football is more cultural than sporting and economic”