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Women’s World Cup as it happened: Draw for Matildas’ rivals; Spain and Switzerland secure three points

Marnie Vinall and Scott Spits
Updated ,first published

Brought to you by Peloton

Key Posts

Group Standings
Women’s World Cup state of play
Alen Stajcic’s Philippines fall to Switzerland
Kerr appears unlikely to return in group stage
Analysis: Why the Matildas can beat group foes without Sam
Sam Kerr’s Chelsea teammate is hopeful they’ll meet in Canada clash
‘It’s obviously devastating’: Gustavsson plays coy on extent of Kerr’s injury
‘Might as well just go home’: Norway star on yesterday’s shock loss
Matildas score massive ratings win as World Cup gets underway

The day that was

By Scott Spits

Well, the Women’s World Cup is officially in full swing.

It’s barely 24 hours since the high drama in Sydney where the Matildas overcame the absence of Sam Kerr to take victory and three points against Ireland to ensure a solid start to their campaign. Since then, there’s been three matches across Australia and New Zealand to give football/soccer fans a taste of what to expect to over the next month. The tournament gets further into gear on Saturday with another four games.

The key news late today is that Matildas star Kerr is unlikely to feature in the group stage at all, which means missing next Thursday’s match against Nigeria and the game against Canada a few days later. Her injury status will hang over the Matildas during possibly the biggest sporting showcase in Australia since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Good night everyone. Enjoy the upcoming month.

Spain’s early warning about World Cup credentials

By

Spain have sent an early warning to their Women’s World Cup rivals with a devastating first-half display in a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in Wellington.

La Roja scored three goals across the space of six manic minutes during the first half to set up the easy win in the Group C clash on Friday night.

The scoreline would have been even more comprehensive if not for Costa Rica goalkeeper Daniela Solera, who saved a first-half penalty amid a host of stunning saves for the match.

Olga Carmona of Spain takes on Melissa Herrera of Costa Rica Getty Images

The final result was in stark contrast to the 1-1 draw fought out between the two teams at the 2015 World Cup.

Group Standings

By

For the two groups where all nations have played one match:

GROUP B
Australia - 3 points
Canada -1 point
Nigeria - 1 point
Ireland - 0 points

GROUP A
Switzerland - 3 points
New Zealand - 3 points
Norway - 0 points
Philippines - 0 points

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Full-time: Spain 3 Costa Rica 0

By

It took six minutes of dominance for Spain to get the job done versus Costa Rica, scoring all three goals in a purple patch before 30 minutes had elapsed.

Catch up on all the match details, including statistics, HERE.

Spain’s Esther Gonzalez, left, and Costa Rica’s Mariana Benavides compete for the ball.AP

Exclusive: FIFA deletes fans’ videos from social media

By Ben Cubby

Fans who shared footage taken inside World Cup stadiums have had their videos wiped from social media after complaints from football’s organising body FIFA.

Strict rules buried in the 13 pages of fine print that accompany match tickets specify that people not broadcast “live or near live” material from the grounds on their personal social media accounts, to protect broadcaster’s rights.

Australia celebrate at full-time in their first World Cup game.Getty

But the fine print gives FIFA discretion to decide what constitutes a “near live” broadcast, so that fans who uploaded mobile phone footage of crowds celebrating several hours after the Matildas’ one-nil win over Ireland at Stadium Australia on Thursday had footage deleted.

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Half-time: Spain 3 Costa Rica 0

By

Spain did the damage early, and don’t look close to giving up their advantage.

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‘One of the most heartbreaking moments’ of Catley’s career

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Australia’s World Cup-opening win against Ireland should have been a highlight of Steph Catley’s career. The veteran left-back scored her first World Cup goal in front of 75,784 at Stadium Australia – a clinical penalty – and was then named player of the match.

But Sam Kerr’s untimely withdrawal had taken the shine off Thursday night’s win before it even happened. Kerr, the Matildas’ captain and talisman, injured her calf during training on Wednesday.

Steph Catley celebrates after scoring the Matildas’ winning goal from a penalty.Edwina Pickles

The major bombshell was announced one hour before their first Group B match in Sydney, but the team was told on Wednesday night that the 29-year-old had been ruled out both against Ireland and then Nigeria in Brisbane on July 27.

“It was tough; I think it was probably one of the most heartbreaking moments of my career,” Catley said after coming off the field on Thursday night.

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Around the grounds: Spain destroying Costa Rica

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Spain scored three goals in six minutes. Just quietly, they lead 3-0.

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Matildas score massive ratings win

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More than three times as many people tuned in to watch the Matildas’ opening match in the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Thursday night as did the first session of the Ashes fourth test.

Australia’s love affair with the Australian women’s soccer team continued, as the match with Ireland, which Australia won 1-0, drew a five-city metro audience of 1.24 million viewers on Seven, according to overnight figures released by ratings agency OzTam.

Matildas in action: Katrina Gorry and Steph Catley.Reuters, Getty Images

That made it the most-watched program of the night by a considerable margin, watched by almost 50 per cent more viewers than the second-most-watched program of the night, Seven’s 6pm news bulletin, which drew 827,000 viewers.

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