Almost 118,000 people followed the two opening matches of the Women’s World Cup, this Thursday (20). The two teams hosting the competition won.
There were 42,137 people at the game between New Zealand and Norway, at Eden Park, in Auckland. The New Zealanders’ 1-0 victory marked the record attendance for football matches in the country. It surpassed the 37,034 who saw the men’s national team’s match against Peru, in 2017, for the play-offs for the 2018 World Cup.
The decisive moment came at 3 minutes of the final stage, with a finish from Hannah Wilkinson to the net.
In Australia’s opener at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium, 75,784 spectators watched as the home team beat Ireland 1-0. The goal was scored by Stephanie Catley, from the penalty spot, at 7 in the second half.
The previous highest mark for women’s football in the country was last week, when the Australians faced France in a friendly in front of 50,629 people.
In total, 117,921 were present in the stadiums for the two World Cup matches.
The game in Sydney was refereed by a Brazilian quartet. The penalty that gave the victory to the Australians was given by Edina Alves. The assistants were Neuza Back and Leila Cruz. The person responsible for the VAR was Daiane Muniz.
Before the ball rolled in both countries there was a minute’s silence in honor of the victims of a gunman who killed two people and injured five in Auckland on Thursday. The incident even caused doubts about the maintenance of the opening of the tournament. The man who opened fire on a downtown building was also killed, according to local police.
Shots were fired in a construction area in the central region. The police ostensibly occupied the streets, cordoned off the area and reported that there had been at least three deaths.
According to her, the occurrence took place “after reports of a person firing a firearm […] on Queen Street at about 7.22 am.” “We can confirm that two people have died. The assailant also died,” says the initial statement released by the police authority. Five other people were injured.
The text states that “the offender moved around the construction site and continued to unload his firearm”. “Upon reaching the upper floors of the building, the man restrained himself, and our team attempted to communicate with him. Further shots were fired by the man, and he was found dead shortly afterwards,” police reported.
