FIFA Women’s World Cup: New Zealand vs Norway Score
Opening Match of 2023 World Cup
Co-Hosts New Zealand Take on Norway
The FIFA Women’s World Cup action kicks off on Thursday as co-hosts New Zealand take on Norway. Over the next month, 32 teams will compete for the biggest honor in Women’s international soccer. The USA won in 2019 but Norway are going for a second title in their history. American viewers may find this Group A match difficult to catch as kick-off is at 3:00 a.m. Eastern. With New Zealand looking for their first-ever Women’s World Cup win, we’ll look at the New Zealand vs Norway score.
FIFA World Cup Scores
New Zealand vs Norway
Date, time:
Location: Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand
Results: New Zealand 1-0 Norway
Head-to-Head
New Zealand and Norway met last year in a friendly that Norway won 2-0 in Oslo. Norway’s star striker Ada Hegerberg scored in the match, along with Guro Bergsvand. New Zealand won 1-0 in a friendly in Spain three years earlier. This is Norway and New Zealand’s second meeting in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Norway defeated New Zealand 4-0 in the 1991 group stage.
New Zealand Going for First World Cup Win
- FIFA Women’s World Ranking: 26
- Next Match: July 24th vs. Philippines
New Zealand have been mainstays at the FIFA Women’s World Cup and have qualified for five of the eight previous tournaments. They’ve never advanced out of the group stage in any of their appearances. In fact, the Football Ferns have never even won a match at the World Cup. Undoubtedly, the co-hosts’ main objective in this tournament will be to change that.
Their all-time record at the Women’s World Cup is 0-3-12. At France 2019, the Football Ferns lost all of their matches and scored just once. Notably, all previous Women’s World Cup hosts have made it out of the group stage. So, this is New Zealand’s best chance to make history. Along with Norway, they have the Philippines and Switzerland on their Women’s World Cup schedule.
In the lead-up to the Women’s World Cup, New Zealand’s form has been quite poor. In 2023 they have just one win, one draw and seven losses. In those nine matches, the Football Ferns have scored just three goals. Still, this is a team with a decent amount of experience.
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Ria Percival is New Zealand’s most-capped player of all time. Plus, Ali Riley, Annalie Longo, Betsy Hassett and Hannah Wilkinson all have more than 100 caps. Wilkinson was the last New Zealand player to score at a World Cup as well.
Talented Norway Look to Win Group A
- FIFA Women’s World Ranking: 12
- Next Match: July 25th vs. Switzerland
Norway have qualified for all nine FIFA Women’s World Cups. So, it’s no surprise that the New Zealand vs Norway score price Gresshoppene as favorites in this match. Norway has been one of the most successful national teams in women’s soccer history. They were runners-up in the inaugural World Cup and won back in 1995.
They’ve also made the semifinals on two other occasions but not since 2007. In 2019, Norway made it to the quarterfinals but lost to England, 3-0. They also lost to England by an embarrassing 8-0 scoreline last Summer in the Women’s Euros. It was a poor showing from Gresshoppene as they failed to advance out of the group stage. Still, they have some of Europe’s biggest talents on their roster and they show +5000 odds to win the World Cup.
Norway’s attackers are some of the best in the business and Caroline Graham Hansen is coming off a super season for Barcelona. She played a key role in helping Barcelona win the Spanish Liga F championship and the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Along with Hansen, Ada Hegerberg has scored 43 goals in 77 appearances for Norway. Guro Reiten and Frida Maanum are other standouts.
Match Analysis & Odds
It has emerged that FIFA is offering 20,000 free tickets for various matches in New Zealand throughout the tournament. With soccer not incredibly popular in the country, it’s questionable how big of an advantage the hosts will have here. According to the New Zealand vs Norway score, Norway enter the Women’s World Cup opening match as 1.5-goal favorites.
Incredibly, Norway have won their last seven tournament openers at the Women’s World Cup. They sit at -140 odds to cover the spread and are -370 moneyline favorites. It appears as if New Zealand may have to wait a little while longer to get their first WWC win. The hosts come in at just +850 moneyline odds and New Zealand +1.5 displays +110 odds. A draw is priced at +450 odds as well.
In Norway’s last five opening matches at the Women’s World Cup, they’ve averaged 2.4 goals per game. Meanwhile, New Zealand have been shut out in four of their five previous opening WWC matches and are 0-5 in openers. Here, under three goals sit at -120 odds.
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