The biggest FIFA Women's Football World Cup kicks-off in New Zealand and Australia today. The opening match is to be held between New Zealand and Norway in Auckland’s Eden Park today. The match starts at 12:30 PM Indian Time. Later, Australia will play the Republic of Ireland in Sydney. Australia and New Zealand are jointly hosting the 9th edition, in which 32 nations including defending world champions US are taking part. It is the first Women's World Cup with two co-hosts.
 
The women's football World Cup will follow the traditional group stage-knockout format. For the group stage, the teams have been divided equally into eight groups of four teams each. Besides, the Republic of Ireland, seven other nations are making their debuts at this World Cup – Vietnam, Zambia, Haiti, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines, and Portugal. The final will take place at the Sydney Olympic Stadium on 20th of next month.