7 things we learned from Women's World Cup group stage round one
Sixteen matches, 32 goals and a few questionable moments of rustiness later, round one of the Women’s World Cup group stages has come to an end.
From co-hosts New Zealand’s shock win over top dogs Norway and Ary Borges’ sensational hat-trick against Panama to added time stretching into the double digits and England's nervy win over Haiti, the group stages have treated fans across the world to a delectable gamut of quality, thrill and angst.
The first chunk of games pave the way for an even more thrilling round of matches to come as the stakes grow ever higher and the margins ever slimmer. But before the drama commences, MirrorFootball takes a look at the top seven things we’ve learned from the group stages thus far, on and off the pitch.
Underdogs
When FIFA announced in 2019 that this summer’s World Cup would feature 32 teams instead of the traditional 24, there was widespread concern the unprecedented expansion would result in a lower quality of football.
The gulf between the game’s big hitters and its wide-eyed minnows was sure to be huge - you only had to look at the United States’ 13-0 win over Thailand at the 2019 World Cup for proof of that.
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This year, in the opening round of group games, all eight of the debuting nations fell to defeat and all eight failed to score. But those two rather damning statements fail to tell the full story.
Take the Republic of Ireland for example. The Girls in Green put in a valiant display against co-hosts Australia, with Steph Catley’s penalty the only difference between the two sides. Haiti, too, were beaten only by a spot-kick, converted the second time of asking by England’s Georgia Stanway.
Melchie Dumornay and Millie Bright battle it out during England's narrow 1-0 win over Haiti (Photo by Patrick Hamilton / AFP)To push two of the tournament favourites all the way and prevent them from scoring from open play is no mean feat. Elsewhere, Portugal were also beaten 1-0, by 2019 runners-up the Netherlands no less, while the Philippines lost to Switzerland by just a two-goal deficit.
It was a slightly different story for Panama (beaten 4-0 by Brazil), Zambia (beaten 5-0 by Japan) and Morocco (beaten 6-0 by Germany) however, over the course of the 90 minutes, all eight debutants showed flashes of promise and proved the global women’s game is most definitely on the up.
Early Golden Boot contenders
While we will look back on these premature projections with pink-cheeked embarrassment, the competition for the Golden Boot has already gathered steam.
USA international Sophia Smith became the summer’s first player to bag a brace in the reigning world champions USA's 3-0 defeat of Vietnam. But her place as the outright top scorer was short-lived as Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa swiftly crowded the space after helping her side to a 5-0 win over Zambia before Alexandra Popp joined the two-goal pair in Germany's 6-0 rout of Morocco.
But where a duplet seemed to be the ceiling for goalscorers in round one of the group stages, Brazil’s Ary Borges opted to rewrite the rules. The 23-year-old fired Brazil into an early lead over Panama, bursting into tears at seizing her side’s first goal of the tournament. A second followed shortly after and while her hat-trick easily could’ve arrived on the 48th-minute mark, Borges opted to tag an even cooler-looking assist to her match highlights before securing the heroics 20 minutes later by nutmegging the goalkeeper.
If there were style points in the Golden Boot race, Borges hit the motherload in her 75-minute World Cup debut (yes, you read that right). Alas, there's not. But Borges certainly seems the one to beat. Good luck with that.
Ary Borges celebrates scoring the first hat-trick of the 2023 Women's World Cup (Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)VAR
The very moment it was released that The Women's World Cup 2023 would have VAR, you could almost hear the collective sigh among football fans. It’s been debated to within an inch of its life regarding its impact on the men’s game and is a foreign concept in the Women's Super League.
But, it's been pleasantly surprising so far. It’s as if the powers that be in the women’s game have learnt from the men’s game and taken steps to help aid the referee, rather than simply overriding them.
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Decisions have been reached quickly and communicated clearly - even if hearing the referees quite dramatically announce their verdict has caused quite a stir.
All in all, VAR hasn't made a wrong step yet - something that will hopefully continue for the duration of the tournament.
Record crowds
This World Cup is expected to smash the attendance record set in France in 2019.
More than a million tickets have already been sold for the tournament and the appetite for the women’s game seems to be growing day by day. This summer has the potential to totally redefine how women’s football is perceived in Australia in New Zealand and catapult the sport’s popularity into a different stratosphere.
The opening day set the tone beautifully for what will hopefully be a watershed tournament, with both Australia and New Zealand breaking new ground in their first group games. 42,137 fans came out to watch New Zealand's 1-0 victory over Norway, representing the biggest crowd in the country's football history — men's or women's.
A record crowd of 42,137 took in New Zealand's 1-0 victory over Norway at Eden Park (Photo by Hannah Peters - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)Meanwhile, 75,784 saw the Matildas beat the Republic of Ireland in Sydney; a record home crowd for a women's football match in Australia.
Of course, there is still work to be done. Organisers in New Zealand responded to low demand for four matches by offering to give away 20,000 tickets, while little more than 11,000 were in attendance at the clash between the Netherlands and Portugal in Dunedin.
We won’t know until the end of the tournament whether this summer’s crowds are better than those seen at World Cups that have gone before, or whether such crowds have the desired seismic impact on the women’s game, but things certainly seem to be heading in the right direction.
Injury time pushes the limit
FIFA warned that games would creep past the 100-minute mark this summer. Their cautions have rung true.
New Zealand’s opener against Norway served as a quintessential harbinger, the co-hosts' 1-0 shock win culminating with eight minutes of injury time. The same was added to Australia’s 1-0 opening win over the Republic of Ireland.
In fact, an average of 8.6 minutes were added on to each group stage opener, with the 12 minutes added onto Japan’s 5-0 thrashing of Zambia representing the highest additional time and the five added to Switzerland’s 2-0 victory over the Philippines representing the lowest.
VAR’s consistent intervention is the most obvious culprit, though it’s in keeping with FIFA’s larger plan to tackle an historic lack of active game time at major tournaments.
The governing body wants more football played and fewer goal celebrations/injury feigning/other pesky stoppages. With the drama on offer so far, you can’t begrudge them, though perhaps the final whistle will be blown only once in England's next match.
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Nevertheless, Wright's tweet was one of many off-pitch moments that made round one of the group stages a titillating affair.
Argentina's Yamila Rodriguez's left leg managed to spark discourse, with the majestic gaze of Argentina World Cup legend Diego Maradona perplexedly placed just inches above an inked ode to Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo, whom the 25-year-old forward dubbed, in no uncertain terms, the GOAT.
Yamila Rodriguez's tattoos (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)Lionel Messi might have won Argentina its first World Cup since 1986, but the Al Nassr forward has seemingly won Rodriguez's heart (and left shin).
And finally, is it a major tournament without behind-the-scenes beef? Republic of Ireland's Ruesha Littlejohn snubbed Australia’s Caitlin Foord in the pre-match handshakes, a slight that arrives after Foord posed in pictures whilst on holiday with Littlejohn’s former partner, Ireland skipper Katie McCabe. During the match, Littlejohn and Foord weren’t too chummy either. It was all very John Terry-Wayne Bridge. Bring on round two.
Most impressive team
There have already been plenty of standout individual performances at this tournament already. Alexandra Popp’s brace and Ary Borges and Mary Earps are among those who've impressive. But, the award for standout team performance goes to co-hosts New Zealand, who triumphed 1-0 over Norway on Thursday.
It set the tournament up perfectly; glory for the underdog against a side ranked considerably higher than them in the FIFA rankings.
New Zealand's defender Ali Riley reacts New Zealand's Group A defeat of Norway (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)Football Ferns’ Jacqui Hand got the better of Tuva Hansen every time down the flanks. Her assist for Hannah Wilkinson’s finish was perfection and Norway had no answer despite their star-studded roster.
It was a sensational team effort that has become the yard-stick for the remainder of the tournament, though New Zealand didn't have long to bask in the glory of their maiden tournament win, as they were beaten by the Philippines in their second group game earlier today.
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