First WWC hat-trick scored as Brazil follow Germany in winning big | OneFootball

There were three Women’s World Cup fixtures to kickstart the week. Here’s what happened.

Borges hat-trick earns Brazil an easy win

Scorers: Borges 19′, 39′, 70′, Beatriz 50′

Ary Borges was the hero of the hour as she scored a hat-trick to hand Brazil a 4-0 win over Panama.

The first round of group fixtures came to an end in Adelaide as Brazil got their tournament underway.

The Selecao were looking for a win that would take them above France and Jamaica after their draw over the weekend.

And they almost got off to the perfect start as Adriana raced in on goal but had her effort saved after only 40 seconds.

The South American side were totally dominant in the opening exchanges and, after 15 minutes, had already had seven shots on goal.

But they finally found the target on 19 minutes as Ary Borges headed in at the back post.

Borges was at it again 20 minutes later as the Racing Louisville midfielder saw her header saved but then tapped in the rebound to double her side’s lead.

Into the second half and Brazil added a third immediately as Beatriz struck home after a brilliant team move.

With 20 minutes to go their was a fourth goal as Borges got her hat-trick with yet another header – the first of the World Cup so far.

Germany hit Morocco for six

Scorers: Popp 11′, 39′, Bühl 46′, Aït El Haj OG 56′, Redouani OG 79′ Schüller 90′

Germany put their indifferent recent form behind them as they got their World Cup campaign off to a dream start with the biggest win of the tournament so far in a ruthless rout of Morocco.

There were just 11 minutes on the clock when they found the opener: a slack pass at the back from Morocco was ruthlessly punished by Alexandra Popp, who craned to direct her header following a cross from the right into the net.

Sara Däbritz had a goal ruled out for offside as they continued to turn the screw on the AFCON runners-up and duly grabbed their second shortly before half-time through Popp again as she once more displayed her aerial prowess with a stooping header from a corner to make it 2-0.

It took her tally to 11 in major international tournaments which is more than any currently active European player.

Germany showed no signs of letting up after the interval and quickly moved further clear when Klara Bühl netted within 30 seconds of the restart, sweeping home after the ball broke kindly to her following a melée in the area.

Ten minutes later, they had their fourth when the unfortunate Hanane Aït El Haj put through her own goal after another fracas inside the box and unfortunately for the Atlas Lionesses, it wasn’t their last of the game as Zineb Redouani did the same (again from a corner) in the closing stages to make it five.

In injury-time, substitute Lea Schüller added number six after the ball was parried into her path to ensure they overtook Japan for this tournament’s biggest margin of victory.

Italy leave it late

Scorers: Girelli 87′

Supersub Cristiana Girelli needed little time to make her impact at the World Cup by scoring a late winner to steer Italy past Argentina in their opener.

An exciting, albeit scoreless first half, saw Italy put the ball in the net twice through Arianna Caruso and Valentina Giacinti, although both goals were rightly ruled out for offside.

For Argentina, history was made from the start though as goalkeeper Vanina Correa became her country’s oldest player to feature at a World Cup at the age of 39 years and 344 days.

The Azzurre continued to have the better of things after half-time and shortly before the hour mark came within inches of the opener from a Manuela Giugliano free-kick which flashed just over the bar.

In the closing stages, Correa proved that her age isn’t slowing her down at all when she produced a strong save to deny Giada Greggi before finally being breached with three minutes remaining.

Just four minutes after coming off the bench to replace Italy’s youngest ever World Cup player Giulia Dragoni, Girelli struck for the winner with a looping header beyond Correa.

Italy face Sweden, who also won their opener with a late goal, next as Argentina prepare to face South Africa.

Tuesday’s fixtures