ALL the groups have played their opening fixture. While there haven’t been that many surprise results, fans have been treated to a host of goals since the tournament kicked off Saturday night.

It started off quite slow, Canada needing a late penalty to clinch all three points against China and the Netherlands also leaving it late to see off New Zealand.

Both sides are likely to qualify but will need to improve their finishing if they are to go further than the quarter-finals.

Canada will also want to give their fans a bit more to cheer when they play New Zealand tomorrow night, knowing victory could be enough to qualify depending on how the Netherlands get on against China tonight.

Viewers Sunday evening were treated to 14 goals in two matches. Norway kicked things off, putting four past Thailand who were unfortunate not to take the lead early on.

The highlight of this match was Norway’s Isabell Herlovsen who celebrated her first of two goals by taking a selfie with her teammates, without an actual camera.

Germany then finished off the match day in style without even breaking a sweat.

Celia Sasic scored the fastest ever World Cup hat-trick — needing 29 minutes from the first to the third goal — as the tournament favourites defeated Ivory Coast 10-0.

They started off in similar style four years ago, beating Argentina 11-0 before losing 1-0 in the quarters to eventual winners Japan in extra-time.

They will be hoping to reach the semi-finals at least this time round.

Tonight’s game between Germany and Norway is billed as winner takes top spot in the group and while many pundits feel that Die Nationalelf were sloppy at the back against the Ivorians — often leaving two or three defenders against five attackers — it was more of a case of being confident that they would not concede and even if they did, they could score whenever they wanted.

The World Cup debutantes were totally at sea defensively and the scoreline could have been a lot worse had it not been for Dominique Thiamale’s terrific performance in goal.

Thiamale played most of the game with a shoulder injury picked up during the game but battled through the pain and will be hoping for more protection from her defenders.

It is a learning curve for the team ranked 67th in the world — the lowest in the tournament — but their match against Thailand is winnable, as long as they work on the defensive side of the game in training.

In group C, Cameroon continued where Germany and Norway left off and hit Ecuador for six, Gaelle Enganamouit scoring a hat-trick. The win puts them top of the group only on goal difference, as holders Japan beat Switzerland 1-0 thanks to captain Aya Miyama’s first-half penalty.

Japan are next in action on Saturday, where they will play group leaders Cameroon.

Again, the winner of this match will likely finish top of Group C.