The first round of group stage matches have officially come and gone and Mirror Football has taken a look at the top talking points from the tournament’s first 16 matches
Sixteen matches, 32 goals and a few questionable moments of rustiness later, round one of the Women’s World Cup group stages has come to an end.
From co-hosts New Zealand’s shock win over top dogs Norway and Ary Borges’ sensational hat-trick against Panama to added time stretching into the double digits and England’s nervy win over Haiti, the group stages have treated fans across the world to a delectable gamut of quality, thrill and angst.
The first chunk of games pave the way for an even more thrilling round of matches to come as the stakes grow ever higher and the margins ever slimmer. But before the drama commences, MirrorFootball takes a look at the top seven things we’ve learned from the group stages thus far, on and off the pitch.
When FIFA announced in 2019 that this summer’s World Cup would feature 32 teams instead of the traditional 24, there was widespread concern the unprecedented expansion would result in a lower quality of football.