After all the preparations, buildup and hard work, both on the pitch and off it, Canada will kick off its Women’s World Cup campaign – Thursday night in Canada, Friday lunchtime in Melbourne, Australia – against Nigeria, the world’s 40th-ranked team.
On paper, the Olympic defending champions, currently ranked seventh in the world, should feel confident heading into the opening match, having played Nigeria twice just over a year ago in British Columbia, winning one and drawing the other. However, Bev Priestman’s team was handed a timely reminder – if indeed any were needed – that in a tournament such as the World Cup, upsets lurk around every corner. The 26th-ranked New Zealand Football Ferns, the tournament co-host along with Australia, got the event under way in fine style earlier on Thursday, upsetting 1995 Women’s World Cup winner Norway 1-0 to register its first win at a World Cup at the 16th time of asking.
More important to Canada and its aspirations of getting out of Group B, Australia beat Ireland 1-0 in the other game of the opening day. That result means that Canada needs a win against Nigeria to keep pace with the Matildas – as Australia’s women’s team is known – at the top of the group, with the top two teams after the round-robin advancing to the knockout round.
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