Women's World Cup 2023 kicks off

New Zealand women's soccer coach Jitka Klimkova told reporters Thursday that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins congratulated the team after their historic win over Norway.

"He came to the locker room and he was very proud," Klimkova said. "It was a very nice moment for us to have this kind of guest."

New Zealand is known more for its rugby than soccer and Klimkova said Thursday she believes this World Cup will "wake up a lot of passion in football."

"I believe the performance and the result [will] keep inspiring the nation," Klimkova said.

"If we will have this crowd behind us every time we step on the field, that’s what we need. We need this kind of push.

"The fans for us are so important. I want to thank to them for coming and supporting us," she said. "I hope they will keep coming and the love for football will just grow in this country."

Australia has struggled to lay a glove on the Republic of Ireland so far in this match -- the co-host has hit the target only once in its first attempts on goal.

While Ireland has defended resolutely, it has looked dangerous at times itself but has been let down by decision-making around Australia's box.

Ireland's Katie McCabe has been brilliant in the opening 45 minutes, leading her team's charge against the Matildas and getting stuck in with some strong tackles.

Ireland will be happy with the scoreline so far but will surely face yet more pressure after the break.

New Zealand's women's soccer team has a tradition of celebrating wins with ice cream, according to local media.

Asked what she'd be celebrating Thursday's historic win with, coach Jitka Klimkova said she was recently introduced to 'Hokey Pokey,' a popular New Zealand ice cream flavor which consists of vanilla ice cream dotted with bits of honeycomb toffee.

"I believe there is going to be a lot of 'Hokey Pokey,'" Klimkova told reporters.

Unsurprisingly, the news of Sam Kerr's injury has been met with shock and sadness in Australia.

The talismanic captain has been ruled out of the Matildas' opening two matches due to a calf injury picked up in training.

Tears were even shed by members of Mitchelton Football Club senior women’s team, based in Brisbane, when they found out about Kerr's injury.

Charlotte Andrew “cried on a public train,” her teammates said. “I’ll never be the same,” Andrew added, the yellow and green painted stripes on her face slightly smudged.

Another Matildas fan, Kate Deegan, called Kerr’s shock exclusion “heartbreaking."

“But she’s got a strong team behind her," Deegan added.

Her friends said: “There’s great depth in the team.”

Who will they watch now?

“Mary Fowler,” they yelled, referring to the forward who’s been chosen to replace Kerr up front.

Fowler was selected for the 2019 team but didn’t play, so there’s huge anticipation about her performance.

Following New Zealand's historic win over Norway in the opening match of the 2023 World Cup, Ferns coach Jitka Klimkova told reporters she believes the halftime chat helped the squad secure the win.

Early in the second half, Hannah Wilkinson scored the decisive goal which clinched New Zealand's first ever World Cup win, men's or women's.

Going into the break, Klimkova said: "We knew that our performance is very good. We wanted to stay consistent. Consistency of keeping the ball, getting to the final third, being very organized in defense.

"Those messages stayed the same, but we added few priorities: how we can use our spaces a little bit more wisely and more efficiently," she added.

"We could see it in the second half and I believe that helped us to get the goal in," Klimkova said.

A quiet enough start inside Stadium Australia with both sides yet to settle into the game.

The cohost was expected to win this easily, but Ireland is in no mood to just lie down.

Ireland's Katie McCabe and Australia's Hayley Raso exchanged some tasty challenges which have caught the eye of the referee in the opening 20 minutes.

Neither side has yet to create a real chance.

New Zealand got its World Cup campaign off to a dream start on Thursday, earning a shock win over a heavily fancied Norway side.

It was a historic result for the Ferns, who secured a first World Cup win for the country, men's or women's.

"It's hard to describe, I think just the fact that we finally got that first ever win which has been so long overdue," midfielder Malia Steinmetz told CNN's Tara Subramaniam.

"That was just for all the girls that have made this team the way that the team is — in the past or future.

The day got off to a difficult and emotional start after a shooting in Auckland, the city where the match against Norway was played, left three people dead, including the shooter.

Steinmetz said the team spoke about it before the match.

"It was just something that was so sad to experience as a city and nation and just so close on our back doorstep," she said.

"We obviously felt for the people that were involved and I know sports doesn't contrast with life, it's just a football game and so different to anyone's life.

"It was just good to have the support out there today for us, even after everything that's gone on."

We have kickoff inside Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Australia in its famous green and gold colours gets the game underway against its opponents in all green.

CNN is witness to a lot of fans inside the stadium making plenty of noise, with both anthems sung passionately.

A minute's silence was also respected to pay tribute to the victims of the shooting in Auckland earlier on Thursday.

Norway defender Maren Mjelde spoke to CNN in the aftermath of her nation's 1-0 defeat to co-host New Zealand.

The captain said that despite the disappointment, the team was focused on improving for the final two group stage games against Switzerland and the Philippines.

"We have two more games and we need to stick together and evaluate and move forward. I think it's a lot of winning the first ball [...] get control of the game.

"I think we were too far away from each other. And it's hard to to get into the right rhythm."