OneFootball
Lewis Ambrose·25 July 2023
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Lewis Ambrose·25 July 2023
All 32 sides have now been in action at the Women’s World Cup, with Group A set to play its second round of fixtures on Tuesday.
Switzerland and Norway played out a goalless draw as Group A stayed wide open going into the final matchday.
This was a crucial Group A game in Hamilton as Norway looked to claim a win that would leave all four sides on three points going into the final match.
But it got off to a terrible start for the Scandinavians as their key player – Ada Hegerberg – left the pitch just before kick off after struggling with a groin injury.
Norway did have the first real chance to open the scoring though, on 24 minutes as Sophie Roman Haug headed straight at Gaëlle Thallmann in the Swiss goal.
Minutes later however Ana-Maria Crnogorčević went up the other end and saw her chipped effort come back off the crossbar.
Into the second half and once again Roman Haug forced an excellent save from Thallmann after good work down the left-hand side by Norway.
Caroline Hansen came on with 20 minutes to go and immediately looked like the most dangerous woman on the pitch.
She twisted and turned her way past a couple of Swiss defenders but saw her low shot saved well.
Scorers: Bolden 24′
Philippines earned their first ever win at the Women’s World Cup as they shocked hosts New Zealand for a famous victory.
New Zealand had never beaten a World Cup debutante in four previous attempts and their fifth bite at the cherry didn’t get off to the best start.
Philippines took the lead on 24 minutes as Sarina Bolden struck home from inside the area to silence the Wellington crowd.
The Football Ferns were getting frantic towards the end of the first half as they desperately pushed to try and pull a goal back – bit to no avail.
Into the second half and New Zealand had a great chance to equalise on 57 minutes only for Hannah Wilkinson to put her header over the bar.
They thought they had equalised with 20 minutes to go though, as Jacqui Hand headed in from close range but VAR overruled the goal for an offside earlier in the build-up.
The hosts threw everything at getting a goal in the final moments of the match but Philippines were equal to everything and held out for one of the tournament’s biggest ever shocks.
Scorers: Usme 30′ (pen), Caicedo 39′
The 31st and 32nd teams of this Women’s World Cup finally kicked off their campaigns after almost a week of waiting and Colombia made it a day to remember in Sydney.
The South American side had only ever won one match at a Women’s World Cup before Tuesday but laid down a marker as they dominated South Korea.
A Shim Seo-yeon handball continued the trend of penalties being awarded at the tournament and Catalina Usme made no mistake from the spot to score the opener.
And teen superstar Linda Caicedo made it 2-0 soon after. The Real Madrid winger cut inside from the left and aimed a tame effort that Yoon Young-geul let slip into the net.
From there it was plain sailing, but there was a piece of history to be made by South Korea, who introduced Casey Phair late on. At 16 years and 26 days, the forward became the youngest player in the competition’s history.