2023 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP
2023 Women’s World Cup opening ceremony: times, how to watch online and on TV
Ahead of New Zealand and Norway’s Group A clash in Auckland, the World Cup’s opening ceremony will raise the curtain on the tournament.
Before co-hosts New Zealand kick off the 2023 Women’s World Cup with a Group A clash against Norway, Auckland’s Eden Park is to witness the tournament’s opening ceremony.
Very little has been revealed about the ceremony - not even its exact start time.
We do know, however, that the World Cup’s official song, “Do It Again”, is to be performed. The track is a collaboration by two artists from the host nations: New Zealand’s BENEE and Australia’s Mallrat.
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How can I watch the 2023 Women’s World Cup opening ceremony?
TV viewers in the United States will be able to watch on FOX Network and Telemundo, while your streaming options include the online platforms Peacock and fuboTV.
What time does the opening ceremony start?
This is what we do now: the Women’s World Cup’s opening ceremony is to be held on Thursday July 20, 2023, immediately before New Zealand vs Norway. Strangely, though, the World Cup’s organisers have been wholly unforthcoming about precisely when the ceremony gets underway.
Some clues...
What we can say is that in the US, FOX and Telemundo are both scheduled to begin their pre-match coverage at 2am ET - an hour before the game kicks off.
One government website in New Zealand - Wellington City Council’s homepage - states that the opening ceremony is to get going at 2:30am ET, half an hour ahead of the match. We could find no confirmation of this on the official World Cup website, however.
In the Australian media, meanwhile, it has been suggested that the ceremony will take place even closer to kick-off - right after the players have complete their pre-match warm-up. According to Optus Sport, it is only expected to be about 10 minutes long.
At the other end of the spectrum, some media outlets have estimated that the opening ceremony could start 90 minutes before kick-off - too early, it seems, for FOX and Telemundo viewers.
2023 Women’s World Cup opening game: key info
New Zealand take on Norway at Eden Park at 3am ET, in a game that will see the Football Ferns chase their first ever win in a Women’s World Cup match. The Norwegians, who lifted the trophy in 1995, are favourites to top Group A, as they look to bounce back from a disastrous showing at last summer’s European Championship.