Womens World Cup
The U.S. exited in the round of 16 after suffering a shock 5-4 shootout defeat by Sweden. Days later, coach Vlatko Andonovski, who took the reins in 2019, stepped down.
The Maltildas face Sweden in the third-place playoff for the bronze medal on Saturday night in Brisbane, after a 3-1 loss to England on Wednesday ended their best-ever run at the tournament.
The Swiss, in a typically combative speech, said the ninth edition of the FIFA showpiece event had been the "best and greatest and biggest", and vindicated the decision to raise the prize money and expand the field from 24 to 32 teams.
After an opening ceremony including the famous Haka war dance, New Zealand's Football Ferns open the tournament at Auckland's Eden Park against Norway on Thursday in what is likely to surpass the host nation's previous biggest crowd for an international soccer match.
Under the global campaign, Football Unites the World, eight specific messages will be sent during the final tournament.
"I have to say my focus is a little bit more on New Zealand as we don’t have the luxury of the Matildas here," Bareman told a New Zealand Herald podcast.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the ninth edition of the Women's World Cup, which starts on July 20, has sold 1,032,884 tickets, surpassing the previous tournament in France in 2019.
A FIFA report published in 2019 said 1.12 billion viewers tuned into the 2019 Women's World Cup in France.
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