Women's World Cup tips: Norway far too strong for co-hosts New Zealand in tournament opener
- Sergiu Baltuta
- 19 July 2023
New Zealand face a tough challenge as they kick off the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup against Norway.
The opening game of the Women's World Cup will take place on Thursday at Eden Park in Auckland, as New Zealand take on Norway.
The Football Ferns are one of the hosts of the tournament alongside Australia, and will be underdogs against Norway who are 12th in the FIFA rankings.
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Verdict
The gap between the two sides is obvious. New Zealand are a small team, who probably wouldn't have qualified for the World Cup if they hadn't been one of the hosts. Norway, on the other hand, are ranked alongside some of the best teams in the world.
Besides the gap in quality the Scandinavian outfit can also rely on experience. At the previous World Cup, they managed to reach the quarterfinals where they lost against England.
Norway managed some decent results during the pre tournament friendlies. Despite enduring a 2-4 defeat against Spain, they held Sweden to a draw - a side that's ranked third in the world.
New Zealand lost all the friendly games against stronger opponents this year. Their only positive results were a draw against Iceland and a win against Vietnam - two very modest teams.
New Zealand are a team that failed to qualify for any of the previous World Cups.
The last major competition to feature the Football Ferns was the 2020 Olympic Games.
During that tournament New Zealand lost all their group games, 2-1 against Australia, 6-1 against the United States and 2-0 against Sweden.
Norway aren't among the favourites to win the tournament but they are a good side who could match their performance at the previous World Cup when they reached the quarterfinals.
Given the group they have (New Zealand, Switzerland and Philippines) there's a good chance they will advance to the knockout rounds with maximum points.
Lately though, they had some modest performances. At last year's European Championship they failed to qualify from the group.
Norway managed a 1-0 win against Northern Ireland, but lost against England and Austria.
New Zealand and Norway have played against each other eight times. The Ferns boast only one win, a 1-0 in a friendly game in 2019. Other than that, it's a draw and six wins for the Scandinavians.
Norway also won the last encoutner between the two nations, enjoying a 2-0 success last year.
