New Zealand stun Norway and secure historic Women's World Cup victory

Wilkinson's goal earns co-hosts first-ever victory at tournament in front of a record Auckland crowd

New Zealand's Hannah Wilkinson celebrates after scoring the only goal in the World Cup opening match against Norway in Auckland on July 20, 2023. AP

Hannah Wilkinson's goal at the start of the second half secured co-hosts New Zealand a sensational 1-0 victory over Norway in the opening game of the 2023 Women's World Cup on Thursday.

It was the country's first-ever victory at the tournament and came in front of a record crowd in Auckland, the biggest in New Zealand football history.

New Zealand had not won any of their 15 previous matches across five previous appearances at the tournament and had set sights on ending that dreadful record as their modest objective this time.

They duly did so against the former World Cup winners, to the delight of a near-sell-out crowd of 42,137 fans, a national record for any football match in the country, men's or women's.

Their margin of victory on a cold, wet and windy evening could even have been greater, had Ria Percival not hit the crossbar with a late penalty.

The win put New Zealand on track towards their goal of getting out of the group stage of the tournament. They face debutants the Philippines on Tuesday in a match that had widely been seen as their best chance of winning in Group A, before taking on Switzerland in their final match.

“I am so, so proud,” said New Zealand co-captain Ali Riley. “We have been fighting for this for so long.

“There were a lot of doubters because of the [recent] results we had but we believed – we believed in ourselves this entire game. We showed it and we played with confidence. The finish, this is what dreams are made of.”

Norway, champions in 1995, were disappointing and disjointed and rarely looked as if they would get back on level terms. Their best chance came from Tuva Hansen's right-footed effort, which ricocheted back off the crossbar in the 81st minute.

Norway have five days to regroup before they face Switzerland in their second group-stage match in Hamilton. “This is not what we had anticipated,” said Norway captain Maren Mjelde after Thursday's defeat. “We woke up the last 25 minutes but it was too late.”

New Zealand's largest city had been badly shaken in the morning by a shooting which left two people and the gunman dead, the incident happening in a downtown area close to where several World Cup teams, including Norway, were staying.

“We wanted to bring something positive tonight and we thought of the victims and the first responders and they made us so proud and we just wanted to just help bring something amazing today,” said Riley.