WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Breaking! New Zealand shooter kills two ahead of Women’s Soccer World Cup
At least two people and an armed attacker were killed and five others wounded in a shooting in New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland on Thursday, hours ahead of the opening match of the Women’s soccer World Cup in the city.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the soccer tournament would proceed as planned, adding the shooting appeared to be the actions of an individual and that police were not seeking anyone else in relation to the incident.
“There was no identified political or ideological motivation for the shooting and therefore no national security risk,” Hipkins said during a televised media briefing.
There would be no change to New Zealand’s security threat level although there would be an increased police presence in the city, he said.
Auckland has welcomed thousands of international players and tourists for the ninth Women’s World Cup which is being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
“Obviously we would prefer it not to have started in this way,” Hipkins told journalists later in the day.
“It will be acknowledged what happened today at the opening ceremony. And I will be going, it is safe to go and we continue to encourage the whole community to get behind this,” he said.
The gunman has not been formally identified but is believed to be a 24-year-old male who was employed at the construction site where the shooting occurred, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said at a news conference.
He was armed with a pump-action shot gun and moved through a building site shooting. After reaching the upper levels he contained himself within an elevator shaft and fired more shots before being found dead a short time later.
An officer was injured in the shooting, as well as four members of the public.
The gunman was the subject of a sentence of home detention but had an exemption to work at the site.
“The individual is known for primarily family violence history. There is nothing to suggest that he has presented a higher-level risk than was indicated by that history,” Coster said.
Soccer teams from New Zealand, Norway, Italy, the U.S., Vietnam and Portugal were known to be in the city when the shooting occurred.
“FIFA has been informed that this was an isolated incident that was not related to football operations and the opening match tonight at Eden Park will proceed as planned,” FIFA said in a statement to Reuters.
“The participating teams in close proximity to this incident are being supported in relation to any impact that may have taken place.”
In the two opening World Cup matches on Thursday, Norway plays New Zealand in Auckland while Australia faces Ireland in Sydney.
SECURITY STEPPED UP
The shooting took place near the Norwegian team hotel in downtown Auckland, and several players took to social media to report they were safe.
“All seems calm, and we are preparing as normal for the match tonight,” Norway captain Maren Mjelde told Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang during the police operation.
Italy and the U.S. team’s training was delayed as players could not get out of their hotel.
Douglas Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris who is leading the presidential delegation to New Zealand for the opening ceremony of the World Cup, is safe, the U.S. embassy said.
A U.S. Soccer spokesman said that the U.S. players were just getting up for breakfast inside the hotel when the incident occurred.
“Our security sort of immediately liaised with the local authorities and Department of State. We determined immediately that everybody was safe and accounted for and from then on we just had to wait it out,” Aaron Heifetz told reporters.
U.S. forward Lynn Williams said the incident was something she and her compatriots had dealt with “far too many times” in the United States, where gun violence is common.
“There was definitely a sense of, ‘Let’s come together.’ We still have a job to do. But also recognising that there was lives lost and that is very real and very devastating,” said Williams.
Several streets in Auckland were cordoned off, all ferry services into the city were cancelled, and buses were asked to detour some areas of the city.
Maurane Mifort-Paon, a 18-year-old tourist from France, said: “At first I was kind of worried but when I saw how the police were everywhere, it was very reassuring.”
A FIFA Fan Festival event just a few blocks from the shooting was delayed.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said the shooting was not in any way related to the World Cup.
Gun violence is rare in New Zealand, which tightened its gun laws after a gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch in 2019 in the country’s worst peace-time mass shooting.
The government has banned all military style semi-automatics and other deadly guns.
Reuters
Nigeria’s Falconets will discover their opponents for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup when the official draw is conducted in Łódź, Poland, on May 15, as preparations intensify for another campaign on the global stage.
The draw ceremony, confirmed by football’s world governing body, FIFA, will take place in one of the tournament’s host cities and will be broadcast live worldwide on FIFA+, YouTube and TikTok.
Nigeria, one of the most successful nations in the history of the competition, heads into the draw with renewed ambition after securing qualification for the tournament, which will run from September 5 to 27 across the Polish cities of Bielsko-Biała, Katowice, Łódź and Sosnowiec.
The Falconets remain one of Africa’s strongest representatives at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, having reached the final twice in the competition’s history. The Nigerian side will now await the outcome of the draw to know their group-stage opponents among the 24 qualified teams expected to battle for the title.
Former Polish international and current women’s national team coach Nina Patalon and French football legend Laura Georges will participate in the ceremony, underscoring the growing profile of women’s football globally.
Speaking ahead of the event, Patalon described the draw as a defining moment for both participating teams and supporters.
“The draw always brings a special sense of excitement, as it is the moment when the competition truly starts to feel real for both the teams and the fans,” she said.
She also highlighted the importance of hosting the tournament in Poland, noting that it could inspire more young girls to embrace football and further accelerate the development of the women’s game in the country.
The 12th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup is expected to showcase some of the brightest emerging talents in women’s football, with Nigeria’s Falconets aiming to make another strong impression on the world stage
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Alongside the USA and Brazil, Nigeria will head to Poland as one of only three nations to have appeared at every edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
As of Saturday night, only Nigeria and Nigeria women’s national under-20 football team and Ghana women’s national under-20 football team have secured qualification for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland after overcoming Malawi and Uganda, respectively, in the final round of African qualifiers.
Nigeria maintained their remarkable record of appearing at every edition of the global tournament, joining the United States and Brazil as the only nations to achieve the feat.
The Falconets were pushed to the limit by Malawi in Lilongwe after carrying a 2-0 advantage from the first leg in Ikenne. Malawi made a dream start when Faith Chinzimu scored from a set-piece in the eighth minute to ignite hopes of a comeback.
Nigeria struggled to reproduce the dominance they displayed at home, and the tie swung dramatically in the hosts’ favour in the 57th minute when Chinzimu completed her brace after breaking down the left flank before calmly finishing past the Nigerian goalkeeper.
At 2-0 on the day, the aggregate score was level, and the Falconets were suddenly under severe pressure. However, Malawi captain Leticia Chinyamula made a costly error that allowed substitute Oscar Precious to seize possession, drive into the penalty area and fire home the decisive goal for Nigeria.
The strike restored Nigeria’s aggregate lead and effectively ended Malawi’s hopes, as the Falconets held on to secure passage to Poland despite the 2-1 defeat on the day.
Coach Moses Aduku’s side will now prepare for another appearance at the world finals, where Nigeria remain one of the competition’s most consistent teams.
Ghana also survived a tense encounter to qualify for their eighth consecutive FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
The Black Princesses travelled to Kampala holding a narrow 2-1 first-leg advantage over Uganda. Still, the hosts drew level on aggregate through a moment of brilliance from Sylvia Kabene, whose powerful strike from the left wing flew into the top corner beyond goalkeeper Belinda Maku.
Combined with Agnes Nabukenya’s away goal in the first leg, Uganda briefly looked set to progress.
But Ghana responded strongly after the break despite being reduced to 10 players. Captain Linda Owusu Ansah proved the hero, curling a superb set-piece from near the corner flag directly into the far top corner to send the Black Princesses through.
While Nigeria will continue their ever-present run at the tournament, Ghana will be hoping to advance beyond the group stage for the first time in their history when the competition kicks off in September.
The remaining African qualification spots will be decided on Sunday when Tanzania face Cameroon, and Benin take on Côte d’Ivoire in the final return-leg matches.
The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Poland 2026 will take place from September 5 to 27 across four host cities
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Nigeria’s U-20 girls, the Falconets, are on the verge of extending their remarkable record of appearing at every edition of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup since the competition began in 2002.
The Falconets will face Malawi on Saturday at the Bingu National Stadium in the second leg of the final qualifying round for the Poland 2026 tournament, carrying a 2-0 advantage from the first leg played in Ikenne-Remo last weekend.
Nigeria have featured at every edition of the competition, beginning with the inaugural tournament in Canada in 2002 when it was still a U-19 championship. The Falconets also competed in Thailand 2004 before the tournament was upgraded to the U-20 level ahead of the 2006 finals in Russia.
Since then, the Nigerian girls have remained ever-present at the global championship, appearing in Chile 2008, Germany 2010, Japan 2012, Canada 2014, Papua New Guinea 2016, France 2018, Costa Rica 2022 and Colombia 2024.
The Falconets’ best performances came when they finished runners-up at Germany 2010 and Canada 2014, while they reached the semi-finals in Japan 2012.
Head coach Moses Aduku expressed confidence ahead of Saturday’s decisive clash.
“We are here to play and to win. The players understand the importance of this match, and we are fully prepared mentally, tactically, and physically for the challenge ahead,” Aduku said during Friday’s pre-match press conference.
Nigeria swept past Rwanda and Senegal in earlier qualifying rounds and are now aiming to complete the job against Malawi to seal another World Cup appearance.
Kick-off for Saturday’s encounter is scheduled for 3:00 pm Malawi time (2:00 pm Nigeria time).
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