Hannah Wilkinson has scored the most important goal of her career which took New Zealand to their first World Cup victory.
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is the ninth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. This time the tournament is scheduled to take place down under. It is hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand. This 1-month fiesta (20th July to 20th August) is slotted across 10 venues in 9 host cities. The finals are scheduled to take place at the iconic Sydney Olympic Stadium. A total of 32 teams from 6 confederations are scheduled to take part in this mega event.
It will be the first FIFA Women’s World Cup to have more than one host nation. The selection of the teams for the World Cup has also been done across multiple confederations. When it comes to titles, the United States is the most successful team to compete in the tournament. The Americans are the defending champions of the Women’s World Cup and have lifted the silverware on four previous occasions.
The opening match of the World Cup kickstarted at Eden Park in Auckland, featuring New Zealand Women as co-hosts against Norway Women. The “Football Ferns” as they are known around the world had the better of their Norwegian counterparts. New Zealand scored the opening goal thanks to a swashbuckling performance by their forward Hannah Wilkinson. The goal came in the 48th minute when Wilkinson found the better of the Norwegian keeper Aurora Mikalsen. This also happened to be the opening goal of the FIFA World Cup 2023 and it has come rightly for the hosts.
If we dive into the game, the hosts had a good game at Eden Park. New Zealand took 12 shots out of which 2 were on target. However, Norway should not be disheartened by this loss. The Norwegians also had around 13 shots out of which 2 were on target. Likewise, both teams had a similar level of passing accuracy. However, in the possession game, the Norwegians had the upper hand as they had 51% ball possession. New Zealand missed a golden opportunity in the 90th minute as Ria Percival (midfield) hit the bar. Nevertheless, the sole goal was enough for the football ferns.
New Zealand striker Hannah Wilkinson scored perhaps the most important goal of her career. In the 48th minute, she converted a fabulous ball by Jacuqi Hand. This goal ensured the first win for New Zealand in the FIFA World Cup after their 16th match (draw-3, loss-12). Wilkinson who plays for Melbourne City in A-League has been a long-time veteran of the national side. In 2021, she played her 100th match for New Zealand during the 2020 Summer Olympics. This win also takes New Zealand to the top of Group A. They will next face Phillippines on the 25th.
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