![\"New](\"https:\/\/rnz-ressh.cloudinary.com\/image\/upload\/s--D9RITAzL--\/ar_16:10,c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,q_auto,w_1050\/v1689844642\/0000NAN_000_33PH36G_1_jpg\")
<\/p>\nNew Zealand’s forward #17 Hannah Wilkinson celebrates her team winning the Australia and New Zealand 2023 Women’s World Cup Group A football match between New Zealand and Norway at Eden Park in Auckland on 20 July, 2023.\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0MARTY MELVILLE \/ AFP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n It took the Norwegians 20 minutes before they put in a shot, Caroline Graham Hansen sending it over the bar.<\/p>\n Wilkinson had another chance in the box as she climbed high to get a head on the long ball, but found the waiting arms of Aurora Mikalsen.<\/p>\n Norway threatened with their few chances. Ada Heggerburg looked assured to open the scoring before a brilliant and much-needed save in the box by Rebekah Stott.<\/p>\n Another strong Wilkinson run forced a fourth corner for the hosts, though New Zealand were again unable to find the net from the ensuing cross, calling curtains on a half which saw the Ferns boss the European heavyweights.<\/p>\n Hannah Wilkinson scored the crucial goal for New Zealand.\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0Photosport<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n It took just two minutes into the second spell before Jacqui Hand made a dazzling dash down the right to out-sprint her defender, with a pinpoint cross hammered home by Wilkinson.<\/p>\n Norway looked set to equalise just before the 60-minute mark. Frida Maanum received a precise pass from Hegerberg to be six yards out unmarked, but sent it to the left of the upright.<\/p>\n Next it was Indiah-Paige Riley to put a shot on goal, only to be denied by a sprawling save by Mikalsen.<\/p>\n Norway began to pepper the Ferns’ defence, Tuva Hansen finding the crossbar in what was the best chance for the Scandinavians.<\/p>\n Hansen was then pinged for a handball, handing Ria Percival the chance to put the result beyond doubt. She also found the woodwork, as Norway was left with a sniff with nine minutes of time added.<\/p>\n Hearts were again tested with 90 seconds to play, Guro Reiten sending Norway’s last chance wide.<\/p>\n Photo:\u00a0Brett Phibbs \/ www.photosport.nz<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The whistle eventually came, and 32 years after their first World Cup appearance, in their 16th game, the Ferns finally broke the hoodoo.<\/p>\n “This is not what we had anticipated,” said Norway captain Maren Mjelde. “We woke up the last 25 minutes, but it was too late.”<\/p>\n The crowd of 42,137 – a record for a football match in New Zealand – let out a deafening roar as the match came to an end, with coach Jitka Klimkova burying her face in her hands as her players celebrated.<\/p>\n Co-hosts Australia were set to open their World Cup campaign later on Thursday in Sydney.<\/p>\n RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Football Ferns have made history in the opening game of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. New Zealand defeated Norway 1-0 to register their first ever win at the global showpiece. In front of 40,000 fans at Eden Park, Hannah Wilkinson secured the incredible win with a goal two minutes into the second half. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6625"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6627,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6625\/revisions\/6627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Football](\"https:\/\/rnz-ressh.cloudinary.com\/image\/upload\/s--FEEwwLZu--\/ar_16:10,c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,q_auto,w_1050\/v1689023639\/4L61MCP_HANNAH_WILKINSON_jpg\")
![\"Norway's](\"https:\/\/rnz-ressh.cloudinary.com\/image\/upload\/s--emeSmDWI--\/ar_16:10,c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,q_auto,w_1050\/v1689837782\/4L5K3YH_n_orway_jpg\")