German President Christian Wulff officially opened the three-week women's World Cup in Berlin's Olympic Stadium Sunday. The 16-nation tournament got underway with hosts and defending champions Germany playing Canada before a capacity 73,680 crowd - the largest for a women's match in Europe.
Although Berlin was the stage for the official opening, France beat Nigeria 1-0 earlier in the afternoon in the first match of the tournament in the southern German town of Sinsheim.
More than 700,000 tickets have been sold for the three-week event. As at the men's World Cup in Germany in 2006, public viewing areas for the matches have been set up in cities and all 32 games will be broadcast live in Germany by the two public television channels. "We have a dream and that is to win the title at home. We will do everything to make it come true," said Germany coach Silvia Neid. The tournament will be played at nine venues across Germany. The final is in Frankfurt on July 17.