“World Cup is getting better and better” – Twitter explodes as debutants Philippines stun hosts New Zealand in FIFA Women's World Cup

The Philippines stunned co-hosts New Zealand in the FIFA Women's World Cup on Tuesday. Sarina Bolden scored the only goal of the match to seal the historic win and silence the 33,000 fans in the stadium.

New Zealand went into the match as the favorites after picking up a win over Norway in the first match of the group stage. However, things just did not go their way and are now left fighting for a place in the Round of 16.

New Zealand goalkeeper Vic Esson was very much a spectator in the first 20 minutes of the match, until she had to come out and punch the ball away. Four minutes later, Esson could not do much regarding Bolden's thunderous header despite getting a good hand on it. The ball crept in and handed the away side a lead against the run of play.

New Zealand kept pushing and came close on multiple occasions, including hitting the post in the 64th minute. Jacqui Hand finally managed to get the ball in the net for the Kiwi, but the goal was ruled out as Hannah Wilkinson was judged to be offside.

The Philippines goalkeeper Olivia Davies-McDaniel pulled off a stunning save in injury time to keep the scoreline intact.

Interesting end to Group A matches in FIFA Women's World Cup

With New Zealand losing to the Philippines, they will need other results to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup Round of 16. Should Switzerland seal a win over Norway in the late match on Tuesday, they would all but have a foot in the next round.

New Zealand will be hoping that the Swiss do get the win, as it would leave them needing just a point in the final group game as long as Norway get the win over the Philippines.

However, if Norway pull off a win over Switzerland, all teams would be going into the final game with three points. The result will lead to a winner takes all situation on the final match day in the group stages when Switzerland face New Zealand and Norway take on the Philippines.

About the author

Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist who has been with the company for around 10 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins.

Sripad has been a Chelsea fan through and through since the age of 9 and can watch their 2012 Champions League triumph on repeat. The undisputed ‘GOAT’ according to him is Lionel Messi and his favorite managers are Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson. Apart from popular European leagues, he also likes to follow other leagues like the MLS, Saudi Pro League, Eredivisie, and Liga MX.

Sripad believes in only using the right sources for his articles, and is an expert in understanding how to get the right quotes for each news to provide proper background information. His exploits have led him to become a popular figure in European Football and interviewing Premier League legends such as Alan Shearer, Shay Given, Paul Dickov, and John Barnes. His articles have been much revered amongst the football fraternity and have been shared by the likes of John Terry, Gary Lineker, and Declan Rice.

If given a chance to change a football rule, Sripad wants VAR to be fully automated and offside rules to be less stringent. When not working, he likes to watch past Formula 1 races and play FIFA.

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