Women's World Cup 2023: What to expect on Day 5

A Germany side regarded as one of the favourites to land the Women's World Cup get their campaign under way against Morocco on Monday, with Italy and Argentina meeting in a clash for the early birds, while Brazil and Panama meet in the final fixture of the day.

Italy kick off at their tournament against Argentina at Eden Park and coach Melina Bertolini wants to harness the momentum of their remarkable 2019 campaign. Italy had not qualified for the tournament in two decades when they made the cut in 2019 and reached the quarter-finals under Bertolini to match their best performance in the tournament from the 1991 inaugural year. Another strong showing at the competition this year would pay long-term dividends for the women's programme in Italy, she told reporters on Sunday. "This World Cup is important - just as the previous one - because it does continue the growth process. We have qualified for two World Cups in a row and I think this is extraordinarily important for the growth in Italy," Bertolini said.

"Our movement keeps growing (but) it's a very young movement, it’s still fragile." A poor showing at Euro 2022, where they finished bottom in their group, and a handful of uninspiring results leading up to the World Cup leave plenty of reason for pessimism. World Cup debutantes Morocco held Italy to a scoreless draw at a friendly this month, and in their final pre-tournament friendly Italy eked out only a 1-0 win against co-hosts New Zealand, who have never made it out of the group stage. Argentina may have never won a match at the World Cup but they claimed third-place finishes at the 2022 and 2018 Copa America Femenina, and Bertolini said she expects a tough challenge. "It's gong to be a difficult match against a team