New Zealand makes history with country's first World Cup victory ever

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — In a country where rugby and cricket rule, soccer was queen on this day.

The first FIFA World Cup match, men's or women's, ever to take place in the Oceania region — New Zealand opened the tournament against Norway here a couple hours before fellow co-host Australia kicked off versus the Republic of Ireland in Sydney — was met by excitement commensurate with the historic moment.

Despite intermittent drizzle and winter temperatures in the 50s when the match at Eden Park began, there was an air of expectation around the country's largest city all day — even following a fatal shooting nearby that shook the country and led to a pregame moment of silence. 

On the residential streets surrounding the national stadium, houses were adorned with flags of the 32 World Cup participants.

Together, the 2023 World Cup's two opening games in Auckland and Sydney were expected to draw more than 100,000 spectators. Yet the record crowd of 42,137 in the former positively dwarfed the previous high attendance of just 12,700 set by the Football Ferns in a friendly against the United States earlier this year. 

The home fans were fully invested in the outcome from start to finish. They belted out the national anthem beforehand. They did the wave. They roared every time the hosts made a tackle or won a corner kick. The decibel level rose whenever their team entered Norway's defensive third of the field. These fans were ready to explode.

They finally got the chance less than three minutes into the second half. Goalkeeper Victoria Esson started the play off a goal kick, a slick second pass released Jacqui Hand down the right wing, and Hand beat her mark and sent a perfect pass across the face of goal to striker Hannah Wilkinson, who side-footed the ball past Norwegian keeper Aurora Mikalsen and into the net.

The place was rocking after that all right, and Indiah-Paige Riley nearly used the momentum to double the advantage with a seeing-eye shot from distance that a fully extended Mikalsen barely fingertipped over the crossbar.

Without the insurance goal, the tension as the second half wound down was visceral. Norway poured on the pressure. Defender Tuva Hansen nearly equalized, her 20-yard shot beating Esson but not the crossbar. 

It only got more tense when New Zealand's Ria Percival failed to convert a 90th-minute penalty kick awarded after video review.

It didn't matter in the end.

On what was already the most important day in New Zealand's soccer history, the home side held on to give the country its first-ever World Cup win, men's or women's, with a 1-0 victory over Norway. 

It was more than a long time coming and everyone knew it; this was New Zealand's 22nd World Cup match all time. 

New Zealand's men made their debut in the sport's marquee competition way back in 1982, nine years before the inaugural event for the women. The Football Ferns competed at that Women's World Cup and at each of the last four without ever tasting victory. Their 15-game winless streak had been the longest in Women's World Cup history.

Was the wait worth it? For all of those who witnessed what transpired at chilly Eden Park on Thursday, in New Zealand's first match on home soil, it's hard to argue that it wasn't.

Before this tourney, longtime Ferns captain Ali Riley told FOX Sports that winning a World Cup game at home would "make it my greatest game of my career."

That's what this moment meant, and who knows what happens from here? History made, New Zealand's journey at this World Cup has only just begun.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.