The first-ever Play-off Tournament for the FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off on 17 February in Aotearoa New Zealand with ten teams from AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL, Concacaf, UEFA and OFC competing for the final three berths in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™. Auckland’s North Harbour Stadium and Hamilton / Kirikiriroa’s Waikato Stadium have hosted the matches, and in recent days, the city of Hamilton / Kirikiriroa has also been home to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Unity Pitch – a vibrant and unique multi-coloured futsal-sized pitch, located at the picturesque Lake Domain.

The Unity Pitch is designed to reflect the unique local cultures of the FIFA Women’s World Cup host countries Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and the 32 nations participating in the tournament in July and August this year. FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura visited the Unity Pitch to meet members of the local community, as people of all ages and abilities joined in the fun. Alongside members from the police, fire brigade, school children, and local footballers, refugee Fatima Hussein Ali, who arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand from Pakistan with her family in 2016, engaged with the FIFA Secretary General. Speaking about her visit to the area Fatma Samoura said: “This Unity Pitch is a symbol that we grant a lot of importance to the FIFA Women’s World Cup because it will be visiting each and every host city in New Zealand and Australia. It will give the opportunity to the international community and also the host community, to come and play and connect, and this is really what we are looking forward to – seeing many more people.”

The FIFA Secretary General added that the Play-Off Tournament has provided locals with a wonderful insight of what looms in five months’ time. “The atmosphere in the stadiums has been unique, and for a first-ever Women’s World Cup Play-Off Tournament, it has been producing great, great results. We have been really enthused to see the fans from South America but also from Africa with their beats and chants. “The level of play we have seen during the play-offs means that we are on the right track, firstly to have a beautiful game on the pitch, but also for the countries to experience one of the best and the greatest World Cups ever.”

New Zealand’s Football Ferns visited the Unity Pitch between their international friendly match commitments and participated in a powerchair football match. Another popular visitor was Thailand’s national team who endeared themselves to locals with a friendly kick-about alongside players from the Special Olympics. In conclusion, Fatma Samoura added: “My message is very simple: if you want to see fun, if you want to connect with the football community, and if you also want to see talent being expressed on the pitch, please start getting your tickets at FIFA.com/Tickets.”

Hamilton / Kirikiriroa’s hosting of the Unity Pitch was just the latest in a series of visits by the Unity Pitch to the nine Host Cities on either side of the Tasman Sea. The Unity Pitch will next visit the Host Cities of Dunedin / Otepoti (9-12 March) and Wellington / Te Whanganui-a-Tara (11-14 April) among its Aotearoa New Zealand visits.