As the second round of group games began we saw history made in Sydney, a football superstar in injury strife, and broken hearts for the co-hosts.
Here are the five talking points from day six of the action from the Women's World Cup.
1. Phair effort for a 16-year-old
Throughout South Korea's opener against Colombia on Tuesday, players stayed loose behind the goal.
Early in the 78th minute, one player broke away from the group.
Casey Phair, at 16 years and 26 days, stepped onto the field and became the youngest player to do so in a World Cup — women's or men's.
"Going on, I was really, really nervous," said Phair, who has an American father and a South Korean mother and was raised in the United States.
"It was a scary moment, but then going on and running around, I think it just settled in."
The record was previously held by the late Ifeanyi Chiejine, who was 16 years and 34 days old when she played for Nigeria in the 1999 Women's World Cup.
In the 17 minutes she spent on the field in South Korea's 2-0 loss, Phair was near the ball at all times, competing with Colombian players for possession every chance she got.
"She deserved the chance to play," South Korea's head coach Collin Bell said.
"She trained really well, just as well as anybody. I wanted to throw her on to give her that experience."
Phair's next chance to play comes Sunday, when the Taegeuk Ladies take on Morocco in Adelaide.
Born on June 29, 2007, in South Korea, Phair is also the first multi-ethnic player, female or male, to play for a South Korean senior national team.
"I'm really proud and really honoured to be the first mixed player for the Korean Federation," Phair said.
"I really appreciate the opportunity I was given today."
2. Colombia win with coach suspended
On the other side of the South Korea and Colombia clash, the Las Cafeteras notched their victory with head coach Nelson Abadía serving the first of a two-game suspension.
Colombia's manager since 2017, Abadía received a red card at the end of the 2022 Copa América Femenina final for arguing with a match official. A spokesman for CONMEBOL, the governing body for South America's international tournaments, did not provide any other details about the incident.
The red card was equivalent to a two-game suspension, which meant Colombia's first two games in Group H at the global tournament. Abadía will also miss the game against Group H favourite Germany on Sunday.
"He's kind of like the dad of the team," Colombian midfielder Elexa Bahr said.
"But I don't think it affected us at all. We all came to win the first game and that's what we did."
Angelo Marsiglia is filling in for Abadía.
"He was always there to provide us with the best conditions," Colombian forward Linda Caicedo said.
"He was very clear with what we had to do and to establish an order on the pitch."
Bahr said the team played a friendly against China earlier this month with Abadía watching from the stands.
"It was a little bit unusual for us," she said.
"But other than that we tried to keep everything the same."
3. VAR denies Football Ferns in shock 1-0 loss
It's been a big week for New Zealand's Hannah Wilkinson.
The Football Ferns striker became the nation's heroine on opening day, with her goal giving the co-hosts a shock win over Norway at Eden Park.
The whole nation was on a high going into the team's second match of the tournament against the Philippines in Wellington, but the game didn't exactly go to script.
The Filipinas took the lead in the first half thanks to Sarina Bolden, and while the Football Ferns tried hard for an equaliser, they struggled to get the finish right.
With 20 minutes left, they thought they had it. Wilkinson picked up a through ball on the left, stopped right on the byline and crossed for Jacqui Hand, who met the ball with a looping header into the net to send the fans crazy.
Cue a minute of celebrations ... until VAR intervened. There was no problem with Wilkinson getting her cross in before the ball went out, but after a lot of camera angles and computations, officials found a sliver of something on the top of Wilkinson's head that was ahead of the final defender.
Take a look at the snapshot above and you be the judge.
In any case it was no goal, no assist for Wilkinson and no joy for the Ferns, who now need a win against Switzerland in their final game to be sure of advancing to the knockout stage.
4. Ada Hegerberg's late withdrawal
Ada Hegerberg is one of the biggest names in women's football, winning the inaugural Ballon d'Or Féminin in 2018 and having scored more Champions League goals than any other woman.
The Lyon striker was supposed to be a lynchpin up front for the 12th-ranked Norwegian side, but if she is to Norway what Sam Kerr is to Australia, she emulated her in all the wrong ways.
Named in the starting line-up for Norway's second game against Switzerland, Hegerberg warmed up, sang the anthem, posed for the team photo, but a second before kick-off she was seen heading up the tunnel.
Initial reports suggested illness before the Norwegian team on social media said she had felt a twinge in her groin in the final sprint of the warm-up.
And if calf injuries are tough recoveries when rushed, groins are perhaps some of the most difficult soft-tissue injuries to bounce back from even with time on your side.
Norway drew 0-0 with the Swiss in the end. They were hoping to make a deeper run than their quarterfinal berth four years ago, but losing a massive target up front for a must-win final game won't make that task easier.
5. Canada looking for a Tokyo-style run after a slow start
Looking ahead to day seven, we have an important game in Australia's Group B, as Canada takes on Ireland in Perth.
Canada knows it can overcome an opening-game draw because the team won gold at the Tokyo Olympics after bouncing back from a first game draw against Japan.
Now the Canucks must rebound again following a 0-0 scoreline against Nigeria in its opening World Cup game.
Canada coach Bev Priestman has likened her team's appearance to the Tokyo team.
"This is tournament football and if I go back to the Olympic games that we won, we started it with a draw, so you've got to move on very quickly," she said.
Captain Christine Sinclair, at 40 among the oldest players at the World Cup, uncharacteristically missed a penalty in the 50th minute against the Nigerians. Sinclair is the top international scorer of all time, men or women, with 190 career goals.
"Of course the team and I are devastated we didn't get three points. But at the end of the day, we got one (point) and we took two from another team," Priestman said.
The Canadians have seen penalty heartbreak before.
At the 2019 World Cup in France, Janine Beckie's attempt was stopped by Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl in the round of 16. The Swedes went on to win 1-0.
The game against Ireland is crucial for the Canadians to advance — a loss would make it very difficult for the Canucks to get through.
Today's Women's World Cup schedule (AEST)
3pm: Japan v Costa Rica in Perth
5.30pm: Spain v Zambia in Auckland
10pm: Canada v Ireland in Perth
- with AP
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