A disappointing defeat to co-hosts New Zealand in their opening Group A fixture meant that Norway needed to get a result against Switzerland, who overcame the Philippines in their first match, to keep their hopes of advancing from the group alive and kicking.

In the pouring rain at the Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, the teams were greeted by raucous support ahead of the national anthems. The weather did nothing to dampen the spirits with Norway looking to get off the mark in the tournament and Switzerland aiming to put one foot in the knockout stage.

Our Norwegian Blues held down their places in the starting line-up, with Mjelde operating in a central defensive pairing at the heart of a back four, while Reiten was playing in a more central role as part of a midfield three, as she did against New Zealand.

All square

After 20 minutes, Norway saw successive chances go begging. A teasing corner wasn’t cleared and fell to Mjelde who fired over from close range. Moments later, another delicious cross was met by Sophie Roman Haug whose powerful header was well saved by Gaelle Thalmann in the Swiss goal.

At the other end, Switzerland could have taken the lead on the half hour mark when an incisive pass cut through the Norwegian defence leaving Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic with a clear sight of goal, but the forward blazed her effort over the crossbar under pressure from the retreating Mjelde.

Reiten was seeing more of the ball from her central position and was looking to instigate attacks, while Norway remained resolute in defence when Switzerland tried to push for an opening goal, but there was nothing to separate the sides, who entered the break all square.

Share the spoils

Norway made a fast start to the second half and within minutes, Mjelde saw another chance come her way from a corner. The skipper made a good run before glancing a header towards goal, which skimmed off the slick turf but was comfortably gathered by Thalmann.

Soon after, the Swiss goalkeeper was called upon again to parry away a sweetly-struck half-volley from Haug as Norway began to ask more serious questions of their opposition. With 15 minutes remaining, Thalmann produced an impressive double save to keep the Norwegian advances at bay.

In the final minutes, Mjelde won a free kick in a dangerous central position but Caroline Graham Hansen could not keep the resulting effort down. Both teams pushed for a winner but neither were able to find the net as they shared the spoils ahead of their final group stage fixtures.

What’s next?

A point will give Norway reason to be optimistic ahead of their last group stage game, where they will face the Philippines on Sunday 30 July in Auckland, with kick-off at 8am (UK time). The Norwegians will need to win to stand a chance of progressing from Group A.