Hannah Wilkinson scored to open the second half and New Zealand went on to beat Norway 1-0 on Thursday for its first-ever win at the Women’s World Cup.
New Zealand failed again in the final qualifying test, following exits against Mexico for the 2014 tournament and Peru four years later.
New Zealand abandoned its football friendly against Qatar at halftime in Austria on Monday after accusing a Qatari player of making a racist comment to defender Michael Boxall.
Check match and telecast details of FIFA World Cup 2022 qualification, CONCACAF–OFC play-off between Costa Rica and New Zealand.
The first match between the teams was drawn 0-0 and New Zealand had gone 581 minutes without a goal until Matthew Garbett scored the second goal and the winner of the match in the 81st minute.
