Women's World Cup starts with a bang - and not the good kind

Women's World Cup teams in Auckland said they were shocked but safe after a deadly shooting in the centre of the New Zealand city on the opening day of the tournament Thursday.

A gunman opened fire at a building site just hours before the opening game at the city's Eden Park between hosts New Zealand and Norway. Two people, plus the shooter, were dead and six wounded.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the showpiece match would go ahead as scheduled but the incident left teams rattled with at least one squad staying nearby.

"New Zealand Football are shocked by the incident in Auckland this morning. We can confirm that all of the Football Ferns team and staff are safe."

Norway's team hotel was close to where the shooting unfolded but they were unharmed and said "everything is calm in the squad". Captain Maren Mjelde said they were woken up by a helicopter and "a large number of emergency vehicles".

"At first we didn't know what was going on, but eventually there were updates on TV and the local media."

It's a sad event to rock New Zealand's capital ahead of such a big tournament, but the games will go no as normal. The opening game will see the co-hosts face the 1995 champions Norway in Group A opener. Three hours later, the other co-hosts Australia and Republic of Ireland meet at the Sydney Football Stadium in front of a sell-out crowd in Group B.

The Americans are chasing an unprecedented third World Cup crown in a row and face outsiders Vietnam to open their title defence in Auckland on Saturday.

FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

Group stage

Thursday

10.00: (8.00) New Zealand W (4.60) Norway W (1.40)

13.00: (1.25) Australia W (5.70) Ireland Rep.W (13.0)

Friday

05.30: (9.50) Nigeria W (5.30) Canada W (1.32)

08.00: (19.0) Philippines W (7.75) Switzerland W (1.15)

10.30: (1.01) Spain W (17.0) Costa Rica W (95.0)

***odds are subject to change