Record crowds expected as Women's World Cup kicks off

New Zealand's Football Ferns will open the tournament as planned at Eden Park in the city against Norway on Thursday at 7pm local time (0700 GMT), in what is likely to surpass the host nation's previous biggest crowd for an international football match.

Australia's Matildas will begin their campaign against the Republic of Ireland at 1000 GMT in front of a sellout crowd of around 70,000 fans at Stadium Australia in Sydney – a record attendance for a women’s football match in the country.

Women were banned from official facilities in England, the home of the game, until 1970, and female players faced similar discrimination in many other countries.

But the sport has achieved greater prominence in recent years, with large increases in women players and spectators globally.

Tracey Taylor, a professor of sports management at RMIT University in Melbourne, said many members of grassroots football clubs expected the tournament to have a transformative effect for participation in women’s sport in Australia.

"They say it’s such a game-changer for them in positioning the sport, not only globally, but also within the local community and raising awareness,” she said.

Still, conditions for women footballers still remain well behind those for men in many countries.

The Matildas released a video this week criticising the “disrespect” for the women’s game that forced teams to play on artificial pitches in the 2015 tournament and prize money that still lags behind the men’s World Cup.

Several participating nations, including tournament heavyweights England and Spain, have been in dispute with their administrators over working conditions and pay in recent months.

Players like talismanic striker Sam Kerr are household names in sport-mad