HISTORY could be made on day five of the Fifa Women’s World Cup if Nouhaila Benzina plays for Morocco.
The 25-year-old defender will become the first player to wear a hijab, the Islamic headscarf, at a World Cup if she features against one of the tournament favourites, Germany.
That is the second game of the day, with Italy facing Argentina, who are trying to win their first World Cup match, earlier in the morning.
Brazil, who have won all eight of their World Cup openers, get their tournament under way against debutants Panama.
Italy are hoping to build on a quarter-final finish at the 2019 World Cup, which was their first time in the tournament since 1999.
But they finished bottom of their group at Euro 2022 in England with only one point.
“This World Cup is important – just as the previous one – because it does continue the growth process. We have qualified for two World Cups in a row and this is extraordinarily important for the growth in Italy,” said manager Melina Bertolini.
“Our movement keeps growing. It’s a very young movement; it’s still fragile.”
The Italy squad includes 16-year-old Barcelona midfielder Giulia Dragoni.
Argentina have never won a sanctioned Women’s World Cup match, losing all six games before 2019 and picking up two points in 2019, including a 3-3 draw with Scotland.
Captain and goalkeeper Vanina Correa, 39, has been in the squad for all four of the tournaments, including this one.
In the non-Fifa-sanctioned 1971 World Cup, Argentina, who beat England 4-1 in the group stage, lost 4-0 to Italy in the third-place play-off. That is their only previous meeting.
Argentina have bounced back well considering they did not play a game between 2015 and 2017, when they lost their Fifa ranking for inactivity.
Rachel Brown-Finnis’ prediction: This is another game I am really looking forward to, and again it should be close. I am going with Italy to edge it, so Argentina will have to wait a little longer for their first World Cup finals win. 2-1.
Key stat: Argentina have failed to score in 67% of their Women’s World Cup games (6/9), the highest percentage among the teams who have played more than six games in the competition.
