A stubborn Republic of Ireland marked their debut with a narrow loss to co-hosts Australia.
A second-half penalty was enough for Australia to kick-off their tournament with a deserved win in front of a record 75,784 crowd at the Stadium Australia in Sydney.
Ahead of the game, a moment of silence was held after .
Australia are one of the tournament favourites but were dealt a huge blow in the build-up when it was announced that their star player and captain .
The absence of the forward was felt, as the Matildas lacked a clinical and creative edge, with the first shot on target of the game coming in the dying seconds of the first-half.
As expected, the home side controlled possession with a stubborn and well-drilled Ireland keeping their opponents at bay while countering when they could, though they were fortunate not to concede when Hayley Raso headed just wide from a corner.
With co-hosts , another upset looked to be on the cards but Australia had other ideas as they continued to pressure Ireland’s goal.
And they were rewarded early into the second-half when Raso was fouled in the box allowing Steph Catley to power her spot-kick past Courtney Brosnan.
From there, the game thankfully opened up, with both sides throwing caution to the wind though Australia remained on top, seeing several chances blocked.
Ireland continued to threaten with dangerous looking crosses into the box, with set-piece situations appearing to be their best route to goal, but keeper Mackenzie Arnold dealt with each one comfortably, including tipping one just wide from a corner routine.
Though their first shot on target only came in the final minute of injury time, it was still a positive performance for Ireland against easily their toughest opponent of Group B, with clashes against Canada and Nigeria to come.
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