The 2023 Women’s World Cup will officially begin with co-hosts New Zealand raising the curtain on the tournament in a Group A match against Norway.
New Zealand are not expected to escape a tough group featuring two European sides, as Switzerland also await the Football Ferns, but if they can manage to feed off the crowd, it could give them the jolt needed to spring an upset.
In truth, there’s little precedent for this match — all previous Women’s World Cup hosts were countries with upper echelon 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 tournament’s history.
Therefore, it’s hard to know how much the host boost will prop up the Football Ferns against 12th-ranked Norway, who are a global force and considered if not one of the title contenders, then at least the next tier below.
MORE: World Cup match schedule with kickoff times & updated results
New Zealand vs Norway match facts
- 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)
