WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Opening of FIFA Women’s World Cup set to shatter records
The opening night (day time in Nigeria ans most parts of Africa and Europe) of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 on Thursday is set to break attendance records in both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand for women’s football as the tournament continues to reach new milestones.
The opening match in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau between the Football Ferns and Norway is likely to surpass the host nation’s previous biggest crowd for an international football match (37,000), set when the All Whites played Peru in 2017. It is also expected to more than treble the largest crowd ever for the Football Ferns, which came in January this year when 12,721 fans turned out to see Jitka Klimková’s side challenge the USA.
Meanwhile, Australian fans will also beat their record crowd for a women’s football match, which was set only a few days ago when 50,629 fans attended the Matildas warm-up match against France in Melbourne/Naarm.
This record figure is expected to be substantially surpassed when Australia kicks off their campaign against the Republic of Ireland at the 75,784-seater Stadium Australia in Sydney/Wangal.
“It will be an epic opening night with over 100,000 fans attending a women’s football match at the first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup held in the southern hemisphere,” said Sarai Bareman, FIFA Chief Women’s Football Officer.
She continued: “It will set the tone for a FIFA Women’s World Cup that I expect to become a watershed moment in global women’s sports – not only from an attendance perspective, but way beyond that, when it comes to developing the game globally and celebrating female empowerment.”
The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™ in Canada was attended by 1,353,506 spectators, but a few days out from the opening match the ticket sales for this year’s tournament have now surpassed that figure, with close to 1.4 million tickets now sold.
The spread of those tickets also affirms the increased global nature of women’s football, as fans residing in a staggering 182 different countries have purchased their tickets and are planning to head down under.
Aside from the two hosts, the top ten countries for ticket sales are the USA, England, Qatar, China PR, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Canada and Nigeria. “Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia are not close to many of the countries competing in the tournament, but it is wonderful to see that people have decided to travel from every corner of the globe to be part of this celebration of women’s football,” added Bareman.
Whatever seat you have purchased, Bareman reminds all fans to download the official FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ mobile ticketing app from the Apple Store or Google Play Store to access their tickets.
“It is important that fans get the app on their phone as the tickets cannot be printed or downloaded. You need to present the ticket on your mobile phone to enter the stadium, so make sure your phone is fully charged.
Like a player that prepares for a big match, we count on fans to get ready ahead of going to the stadium and familiarise themselves with the ticketing app, the transportation options, and the prohibited items list – besides supporting their team, this is another great way to contribute to the spectacle.”
Fans who may need assistance with the app or accessing their tickets are advised to look for the spectator services volunteers at the stadium. If a ticket holder has bought tickets for friends or family, those can be shared in advance, so they have it on their own mobile phones.
Many overseas visitors, as well as local fans, have also decided to enjoy the matches in style and have accessed the variety of hospitality options available, from a single corporate seat to a private suite.
In that case, tickets are sent to the spectators in PDF and must be printed at home.
While tickets for some matches may be currently unavailable, fans should monitor FIFA.com/tickets for last-minute offers, as well as head to FIFA.com/hospitality for an enhanced experience.
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
What a goal-laden day for Nigeria; Falconets also win with wide margin!
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Nigeria Super Falconets gave Nigerians additional joy after their 4-0 defeat of Venezuela in Cali, Colombia in their last group match. Their victory followed up with an earlier 3-0 win by the Super Eagles in their opening Group D match with Benin Republic in Uyo.
The Falconets’ win means they have qualified for the Round of 16 where they are most likely going to face Japan when the group games are completed on Sunday.
Both Nigeria and Germany tied on six points, but Germany have one goal better than Nigeria on goal difference.
The Super Falcons made early hays when Amina Bello put Nigeria ahead after 16 minutes. Chiamaka Okwuchukwu doubled the lead in the 28th minute before Flourish Sebastine put in the third five minutes into the added time of the first half. Joy Igbokwe put in the back breaker four minutes into the added time of the second hald.
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Okwuchukwu shines despite Nigeria’s defeat to Germany in U-20 Women’s World Cup
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Nigeria’s U-20 Women’s World Cup campaign suffered a setback as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against a clinical German side in Bogota, Colombia on Wednesday night.
The result secures Germany’s place in the knockout stages, while leaving the Falconets with work to do in their final group match.
In an end-to-end encounter, both sides created numerous chances, but it was Germany who struck first. Cora Zicai’s pinpoint cross found Alara Sehitler, who nodded home in the 17th minute to give the Europeans the lead.
Nigeria’s star performer, Chiamaka Okwuchukwu, had earlier come close to opening the scoring with a magnificent solo run, only to be denied by German goalkeeper Rebecca Adamczyk.
Okwuchukwu’s persistence paid off early in the second half when she capitalized on a defensive mix-up to draw Nigeria level, celebrating with Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous ‘siuuu’ celebration.
However, Germany’s quality shone through as they regained the lead through Sofie Zdebel, again assisted by the impressive Zicai.
Despite Okwuchukwu having another goal ruled out for offside, Germany sealed the win in stoppage time with Sarah Ernst’s powerful header.
The defeat leaves Nigeria on three points from two matches, with their final group game against Venezuela in Cali now crucial to their hopes of progressing.
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Points of Note in Falconets’ loss to Germany
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Germany beat Nigeria’s Falconets 3-1 in their second group game of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. With Germany’s win, the Europeans have made it to the last 16 stage, even with a game to spare.
The coach of Germany, Kathrin Peter acknowledged the efforts of the Nigerian team , saying: “It was a really tough match today.
“That was expected, but we actually had big problems in defence. They had a few chances where we had the necessary luck, we have to admit that.
“But in the second half we were really good and asserted our dominance and I think we deserved to win in the end.”
Here are some major points:
- Germany beat Nigeria 2-0 in the final match 14 years ago in Germany.
- Germany have now won their last four FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup meetings with Nigeria. Alex Popp inspired a 2-0 victory in the 2010 final, Lena Petermann settled the decider in extra-time four year later, and Stefanie Sanders was the solitary scorer in Group D in 2018.
- This was just Nigeria’s third loss in their past 24 group matches at the tournament.
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