An Australian side missing injured superstar Sam Kerr made a winning start to their home Women’s World Cup on Thursday with a nervy 1-0 victory over debutants Ireland in front of a pulsating 75,000-strong Sydney crowd.

Stand-in skipper Steph Catley calmly slotted home a penalty in the 52nd minute in the only goal of a full-blooded game that sprung to life in the second half.

It ensured three points in a tough Group B as the Matildas kick-started their mission to sweep past the quarter-finals for the first time.

More details on SportsDesk. 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.