Thursday’s opening match of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be between Norway and co-hosts New Zealand at Eden Park. The two teams will meet in Group A where the top two teams will progress to the knockout rounds. Norway have now been available in every one of the nine editions of the World Cup while New Zealand are in their fifth successive competition.
Competition co-hosts New Zealand Women will start off the 2023 Women’s World Cup on Thursday when they go facing Norway Women at Eden Park in Auckland. New Zealand are making their 6th competition appearance, while their rivals have never missed a Women’s World Cup finals.
For several reasons, including the quality of the roster, the visitors enter the tie as overwhelming favorites.
Norway are stacked with high-profile players playing for top-level European clubs. Barcelona’s Caroline Graham Hansen has had one of the most amazing efforts of her career last season with Blaugrana.
You can see how much quality is on this roster when you add players like Ada Hegerberg (Lyon), Fida Leonardhsen Maanunm (Arsenal), and Guro Reiten (Chelsea) to the mix.
Additionally, Norway are one of only seven teams to have partaken in every one of the nine World Cup editions up until this point.
They will face New Zealand, who have never advanced past the group phase on the biggest stage, despite their inability to advance past the quarterfinal in the previous three editions.
The co-hosts have highlighted in five World Cups bramble are yet to guarantee their lady win in the competition.
New Zealand have a few veterans worth focusing on in this competition yet we can barely see them remaining competitive against one of the likely surprisingly strong contenders of the competition on the opening day.
New Zealand are not expected to get away from an intense group highlighting two European sides, as Switzerland likewise anticipate the Football Ferns, however on the off chance that they can figure out how to take care of the group, it could give them the shock expected to spring an irritated.
In truth, there’s little point of reference for this match — all past Women’s World Cup hosts were nations with higher class status in the women’s game. New Zealand, ranked No. 26 in the world, are the lowest-ranked Women’s World Cup hosts in the competition’s history.
In this manner, it’s difficult to tell how much the host lift will set up the Football Ferns against twelfth-positioned Norway, who are a worldwide power and thought of if not one of the title competitors, then, at that point, basically the next tier below.
New Zealand, the co-hosts of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, may be outsiders to win, but they will be hoping to at least improve on their terrible record in the competition.
They have played more matches without dominating a single match at the Women’s World Cup than some other country in the competition’s history (15 games, zero successes). They are likewise the only side to have shown up in the competition without arriving at the knockout stages.
The opening game of the 2023 finals is a valuable chance to start over.
Something should give, be that as it may. New Zealand should end their dreadful run of losing the opening match at every one of the five of their competition participations (1991, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019), while they face a Norway side who have won on matchday one in every one of their last seven World Cups.
Norway have a great family at this level yet aren’t supposed to get their second Women’s World Cup title in 2023, with the Opta supercomputer ranking them as simply the 12th probably going to go as far as possible. Notwithstanding that, they have a decent possibility of winning Group A in front of the co-hosts, Switzerland and the Philippines, so will be hopeful of a strong beginning.
New Zealand enters the Women’s World Cup with an automatic bid for being a host country. Nonetheless, they would likely have qualified. Since Australia left the Oceania Football Confederation, they have been the top team in the OFC. Even though the OFC isn’t always guaranteed a spot, they probably would have qualified as the 26th-ranked team in the world. In any case, their history at the World Cup has not been great.
New Zealand previously qualified back in 1991 yet didn’t dominate a match. They qualified again in 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019. However, they haven’t won a World Cup game yet. As of now, they have lost 12 times in World Cup play and had three draws. With that, they have never completed above the fourth spot in the group stage.
New Zealand appear in the World Cup in extremely poor form, which doesn’t look good while thinking about their dreadful record in this competition, however, they’ll trust that home benefit can act as a leveler for them against their rivals.
The Football Ferns are yet to dominate a match at the World Cup finals, going out in the group stage in every one of their five appearances yet the foundations are set up for them to improve this time round with a very attack-minded head coach in Jitka Klimkova.
Norway enters as number one over Switzerland, New Zealand, and the Philippines in Group A. Norway enters the games positioned twelfth in the world presently. They were prevailing and headed to qualification for these games. In ten qualifying games tracing back to 2021, they have won nine and had one draw. They didn’t lose a qualifying game in 2022 and outscored their rivals 13-1 in those games.
However, in the meantime, Norway has not been as great in recent international friendlies. They had an attracted their last warm-up with Sweden, and in their five friendlies after their last qualifier had one win with two misfortunes and two draws. In any case, they have progressed to the knockout stage in everything except one World Cup wherein they have partaken, including a World Cup triumph in 1995, a runner-up finish in 1991, and two fourth-place finishes.
Norway have a highlighted demonstration on the significant international stage following their group stage leave back in Euro 2022, which incorporated an 8-0 whipping because of possible champions England, however, they’ll have better recollections of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, bowing out in the quarter-finals of that one.
Ada Hegerberg, a striker who returns to the World Cup stage for the first time since 2015, will have a big role to play for Norway. She needs to be at her best in front of the goal, and Maren Mjelde and Caroline Graham Hansen are other key players to keep an eye out for.
New Zealand and Norway have met once at the FIFA Women’s World Cup before this match. This meeting was during the second matchday of the first edition of the competition in 1991, with a success of 4-0 for the Norwegians. The current head coach of Norway, Hege Riise, scored the first of her nine Women’s World Cup goals as a player during that game.
With five matches between the two, Norway is clearly the more prevailing side with three successes. One went to the Football Ferns and one finished in a draw.
Norway really won their two latest games against New Zealand. In 2022 they won by 2:0 in a friendly match, and before that, in 2020, by 2:1 as a feature of the Algarve Cup.
Head-to-head history between these adversaries likewise inclines toward Norway who have won five, drawn one, and lost one of the last seven experiences with New Zealand.
The last meeting between the two teams happened last year in June when Norway claimed a 2-0 win.
In the six previous head-to-head meetings between these rivals, only one resulted in three or more goals.
The last meeting between Norway and New Zealand came a little more than a year prior, in June 2022. Norway partook in a 2-0 triumph over Jitka Klimková’s side thanks to goals from Ada Hegerberg and Guro Bergsvand.
Date: Thursday, July 20
Kickoff Time: 3 a.m. ET (8 a.m. BST / 5 p.m. AEST / 7 p.m. NZST)
Location: Eden Park (Auckland, New Zealand)
Official: Yoshimi Yamashita (Japan)
Last meeting: Norway 2-0 New Zealand (June 25, 2022 | International Friendly)
This Norway team is only excessively great for New Zealand to match up against, and assuming the Football Ferns will escape the group it should come in the two additional winnable games that will follow. The combination up front between Ada Hegerberg and Caroline Graham Hansen will be excessively considerable for New Zealand to deal with, and it’s difficult to see the hosts keeping up.
On the off chance that the co-hosts wish to procure an unexpected outcome here, they’ll have to crush out a low-scoring draw or perhaps grab a 1-0 triumph, yet sorting out a 90-minute performance will be a tall ask for captain Ali Riley and her defensive unit.
New Zealand have failed to score in four of the last six World Cup matches. They also failed to score in the final test before this competition, when they lost 0-1 to Italy six days earlier.
We will back Norway to win to nothing as the main pick at the odds of 1.90, while you can on the other hand take the guests to have the lead at the half time and dominate the game toward the end at the 1.80 odds.
As this year’s tournament’s co-hosts, New Zealand will want to get off to a good start. We can’t preclude an attacking formation from them. Norway then again have been in great scoring form ahead of the pack up to this match. This ought to make this a tempting issue, with goals in the mix.
Jitka Klimkova has vowed to send her team out to go after Norway and the rest of their Group A rivals, as opposed to playing moderately regardless of whether this is a hazardous system. Particularly while considering the nature of the Norwegians according to a hostile perspective. Nonetheless, with a pressed Eden Park swarm behind them, New Zealand will profit from a flood of energy that they hope to use for their potential benefit. While Norway ought to in any case demonstrate major areas of strength for excessively them, New Zealand are more than fit to give them fear, so back the two groups to score close by triumph for Norway.
Ali Riley, Anna Leat, Annalie Longo, Betsy Hassett, Claudia Bunge, CJ Bott, Daisy Cleverley, Elizabeth Anton, Erin Nayler, Gabi Rennie, Grace Jale, Hannah Wilkinson, Indiah-Paige Riley, Jacqui Hand, Katie Bowen, Malia Steinmetz, Michaela Foster, Milly Clegg, Olivia Chance, Paige Satchell, Rebekah Stott, Ria Percival, Victoria Esson
Ada Hegerberg, Amalie Eikeland, Anja Sønstevold, Anna Jøsendal, Aurora Mikalsen, Caroline Graham Hansen, Cecilie Fiskerstrand, Emilie Haavi, Frida Maanum, Guro Bergsvand, Guro Pettersen, Guro Reiten, Ingrid Syrstad Engen, Julie Blakstad, Karina Sævik, Mathilde Harviken, Marit Bratberg Lund, Maren Mjelde, Sara Hørte, Sophie Román Haug, Thea Bjelde, Tuva Hansen, Vilde Bøe Risa
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Esson; A. Riley, Bott, Foster, Stott; Chance, Hassett, Percival; Rennie, Wilkinson, Hand
UNAVAILABLE: Rood (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Bott (Injured), Hassett (Injured)
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Mikalson; Harviken, Lund, Mjelde, Tuva Hansen; Engen, Maanum; Haavi, Graham Hansen, Reiten; Hegerberg.
UNAVAILABLE: Leine (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: –
| TV channel | Streaming | |
|---|---|---|
| USA | Fox, Telemundo | Fubo, Peacock, Telemundo Deportes site/app, Fox Sports site/app |
| Canada | TSN1, TSN4, TSN5 | TSN+, RDS site/app |
| UK | BBC One | BBC iPlayer, BBC website |
| Australia | Seven | Optus Sport, 7plus |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport 1 | Prime TV, Sky Go, Sky Sport NOW |
| India | DD Sports Channel | Fancode |
| Hong Kong | Now TV | Viu |
| Singapore | Singtel TV | StarHub TV+, Singtel TV GO, CAST, mewatch |
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