The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 gets underway on Thursday, with New Zealand’s Football Ferns taking on Norway in the tournament opener at Eden Park.

Auckland will also play host to the opening ceremony beforehand, with the other match of the night taking place across the Tasman in Sydney.

Co-hosts Australia will face the Republic of Ireland in front of an 80,000-strong crowd at Stadium Australia, the venue the match was moved to after Sydney Football Stadium sold out fast.

Hosts have won seven of the eight opening matches to date at Women’s World Cups, but will that continue on Thursday?

Both matches will be livestreamed on Stuff, so you can watch all the action here, and follow our live blogs at the same time.

Stuff will stream 26 matches throughout the tournament as part of a ground-breaking media partnership with Sky Sport, including all three NZ pool games, two round of 16 games, two quarterfinals, both semifinals, the bronze playoff and the August 20 final.

Stuff will have live blogs and match reports of all 64 matches.

Sky Sport is screening all 64 matches live, and you can follow all the news and views on the Stuff-Sky FIFA Women's World Cup tournament hub.

Here’s all you need to know about the two matches on July 20.

Football Ferns v Norway

Group A; Where: Eden Park, Auckland; When: 7pm

Coverage: Live on Sky Sport 1, Prime, Stuff; live updates on Stuff

New Zealand’s Football Ferns will be up against it in as they start their home World Cup, with the toughest of their three group A encounters the first one on the cards. Norway boast a fearsome attacking trio in Ada Hegerberg, Caroline Graham Hansen and Guro Reiten and their list of stars doesn’t stop there. Norway won 2-0 when the two teams met in Oslo last June and should have too much firepower for the Ferns, but who knows what playing in front of a 43,000-strong home crowd at Eden Park might do?

Key players: New Zealand goalkeeper Vic Esson will likely have plenty of work to do if her side are going to begin by snatching an unlikely result. Norway forward Ada Hegerberg is playing at her first World Cup since 2015 and will be looking to add to the three goals she scored then.

Stuff match predictor: Football Ferns 14%, draw 16%, Norway 70%

TAB odds: Norway $1.22, draw $5.50, Football Ferns $9

You can find the squads and other key information about both teams here

If you’re among the expected crowd of 43,000 for the opener, here’s what you can expect at Eden Park:

4.30pm: Gates open.

6.30pm: Organisers encourage ticket-holders to be in the stadium and seated by this time.

6.35pm: Opening ceremony begins. It will be a celebration of the indigenous cultures of both host nations. BENEE and Mallrat will be performing the official tournament anthem ‘Do it Again’.

7pm: Match kicks off.

Australia v Republic of Ireland

Group B; Where: Stadium Australia, Sydney; When: 10pm [NZ time]

Coverage: Live on Sky Sport 1, Prime, Stuff; live updates on Stuff

Australia signed off on their World Cup preparations with a win over European giants France in a friendly in front of a record 50,629 fans at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne last week. Another 30,000 will be there to watch their first World Cup match at home, against an Ireland team that walked out of its last pre-World Cup friendly, concerned with the physical nature of Colombia’s play. It’s hard to see any result other than a Matildas win in this one.

Key players: Sam Kerr will wear the armband for Australia and be charged with leading their line. Katie McCabe suffered an injury scare ahead of the tournament, but Ireland are set to have their best player available.

Stuff match predictor: Australia 86%, draw 7%, Republic of Ireland 7%

TAB odds: Australia $1.22, draw $5.50, Republic of Ireland $9

You can find the squads and other key information about both teams here.

- Stuff.