The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 kicked off with aplomb as both host nations Australia and New Zealand secured impressive victories in their opening games against Norway and the Republic of Ireland respectively. Australia beat their European counterparts 1-0 courtesy of a strike from Stephanie Catley from the penalty spot, while New Zealand won their first-ever World Cup game 1-0 against their group favourites Norway.
Day 2 saw five goals scored across three games. Here, we look at a round-up of the matches of the day, with two wins and a draw entertaining the fans.
Nigeria 0-0 Canada
2020 Tokyo Olympics Champions Canada were held to a 0-0 by African side Nigeria in their opening match of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. Key to Nigeria earning a point was the performance of their goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie made several key saves, including one on a penalty from Christine Sinclair.
Sinclair, who has the most goals in international football across both men and women, with 190 to her name, missed the chance to give her team the perfect start to this edition of the competition. She also missed a chance in the 9th minute when she was unmarked at the edge of the box but misfired.
Switzerland 2-0 Philippines
This match was more one-sided than the other games of the day, but poor finishing let down the Swiss side. The European side had 17 shots and eight on target, as compared to the Philippines' three shots. They also dominated the possession — 74% — and also had more than double the number of passes than their opponents.
Hence, the scoreline is more a reflection of how well the Philippines actually played in their first-ever FIFA Women's World Cup match. It took a penalty at the stroke of half-time to Ramona Bachmann to break the deadlock, with Seraina Severin Piubel doubling the lead in the 64th minute after a double save from goalkeeper Olivia Davies-McDaniel.
Spain 3-0 Costa Rica
In the absence of their main star Alexia Putellas, who started the game from the bench, saw complete domination by the La Roja Femina. The match was similar to the previous one on the same day as Spain took a total of 46 shots, with 12 on target. In comparison, the Costa Rican side managed a single shot, that too not on target.
The first goal came 21 minutes into the game after defender Valeria del Campo put the ball into his own net. Two minutes later, Aitana Bonmati doubled the lead, and within six minutes, the European giants were 3-0 up courtesy of a goal from Esther Gonzalez.
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