Cristiana Girelli came off the bench to score an 87th-minute winner over Argentina as Italy began their Women’s World Cup with a 1-0 victory in a feisty encounter at Eden Park on Monday.

It looked like Italy would have to settle for a draw in their Group G opener, watched by almost 31,000, fans after Arianna Caruso and Valentina Giacinti both had goals disallowed in the first half.

But Girelli, the Juventus veteran who was Italy’s top scorer in qualifying, came on for 16-year-old Giulia Dragoni near the end and needed just four minutes to make her mark with a header.

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