The Women’s FIFA World Cup 2023 has been giving us several memorable matches, moments and results, with the tournament almost reaching the halfway mark. In the latest update from the Group A fixtures of the tournament, Norway have scored a landslide victory over the Philippines, winning by a mammoth 6-0 margin in Auckland.
Norway’s victory in the match is the biggest of the 2023 edition by goal margin as of date, equaling Germany’s 6-0 victory over Morocco earlier in the tournament. The win allowed Norway to claim the second spot in the Group A standings and make it to the Top 16 after having lost their opening game to co-hosts New Zealand.
Sophie Roman Haug was the star of the show, scoring a hat-trick to steer her team to a dominating victory in Auckland. She scored twice within the first half itself, netting the ball early in the 6th minute, followed another one in the 17th minute in the form of a perfectly placed header in off a deep pass from midfielder Vilde Boe Risa. Caroline Hansen also chipped in with the third goal in the 31st minute from outside the box as Norway closed the first half with a healthy 3-0 lead.
As the Norwegians were also ahead with a untraceable lead, things got even worse for the Philippines after Alicia Barker slid in to try and prevent a goal but instead ended up hitting it in, resulting in an unfortunate own goal in the 48th minute, that allowed Team Norway to take a 4-0 lead. Just five minutes after the tragic own goal, Guro Reiten then converted a penalty after she was tripped by Sawicki. With 53 minutes on the clock, Norway were now leading the Philippines by a 5-0 margin.
The Philippines was then reduced to 10 players after defender Sofia Harrison was shown a red card in the 67th minute for a foul on Thea Bjelde. With a healthy unbeatable lead in their hands, Norway was just wasting time by sliding the ball across the field, not making any more major efforts to score another goal. Once the clock hit full time, the referee signaled an additional 11 minutes of play as stoppage time.
Roman Haug scored her third goal of the night and the sixth one for the with a well-placed header 7 minutes into stoppage time following a sublime assist from Reiten. After four more minutes of play, the referee called the final whistle, giving Norway a huge victory and a spot in the Top 16 of the tournament. The hat-trick by Haug has now put her in the race for the Golden Boot with 3 goals up her sleeve.
The result means Norway finish second in Group A behind Switzerland, who held New Zealand to a scoreless draw in Sunday’s other Group A game. Norway will now face either Spain or Japan in the last 16 in Wellington on Saturday.
