Co-Host New Zealand Crashes Out Of Women’s World Cup On Goal Difference

In the space of eleven days, New Zealand went from heaven to hell. Dunedin and the final group game against Switzerland presented the Football Ferns with a twofold opportunity: to move on from the deeply disappointing defeat against the Philippines, but, above all, to leave a lasting legacy at this Women’s World Cup on home soil. Against Norway, Hannah Wilkinson and the Ferns became household names, on Sunday they could truly cement the position of women’s soccer in the country.

In five previous World Cup participations, New Zealand had never reached the knockout phase of the tournament. In essence, the team of manager Jitka Klimkova needed the three points to achieve its holy grail, even more so after Norway took a decisive 2-0 lead inside the first 17 minutes against the Philippines. The Scandinavians were making a statement in Auckland. After an anxious and nervy start, the Ferns tried to do so as well as if they sensed that their World Cup campaign was in danger. The urgency, so absent at times in the team’s second match, was back.

Midway through the first half, the Swiss survived a goalmouth scramble. Minutes earlier, Jacqui Hand’s lob from a tight angle rattled the woodwork. It was a déja vu of the Philippines match. The Ferns had zip and courage in spades and raised the intensity across the pitch, with a great tackle from Catherine Bott preventing a Swiss counter, but had the narrative been set, one of fine margins and so-close-and-yet-so-far moments?

By the pause, the Ferns, for all their dominance, had nothing to show for it. New Zealand still needed that goal. As it stood, the co-host was on the way out and it was hard for Klimkova’s side to recapture and maintain the same intensity in the second half. New Zealand went flat and needed something from somewhere.

Arguably, the Kiwis had burnt too much energy. The clock was ticking, with elimination looming large. Yet, the host played with the full knowledge that a single goal would still be enough. New Zealand needed to dislodge the stubborn Swiss rearguard just once, but, as the Ferns poured forward in the final twenty minutes, attempts by Malia Steinmetz and Claudia Bunge were meek. The gusto, precision and incisiveness of the first half had deserted the Kiwis, who simply could not break down the red wall in front of them. They could not overcome Switzerland’s minimalism, not even after eight minutes of injury time, not even after throwing everything they had forward in those final moments.

Jacqui Hand was distraught. New Zealand’s players hugged in tears. And so, on the world stage, it is farewell then to a great generation of Ferns: Ali Riley, Ria Percival, Victoria Esson, Betsy Hassett, Annalie Longo, Hannah Wilkinson, and Rebekah Stott, who carried the joy and then the burden of playing a World Cup at home. They thrived at first, got stage fright, and regrouped but ultimately fell short. New Zealand is out of the World Cup.