WWC Day 4: Tears, famous firsts & a Rainbow Nation - moments you may have missed

There was plenty to like about Jamaica's squad even before they drew 0-0 with France for a first Women's World Cup point, South Africa's biggest fan showed out as her side battled Sweden, while Jessica Silva made the most of her tournament debut on day four.

Day four of the FIFA Women’s World Cup saw patriotism at its best as South Africa and Portugal began their tournaments.

Both suffered losses, with Banyana Banyana going down 2-1 to Sweden while Portugal tasted a narrow 1-0 defeat to the 2019 runners-up the Netherlands.

The final game of the day was enthralling as France took on Jamaica, with the Reggae Girlz earning a first-ever World Cup point with a 0-0 draw despite a late red card for their captain Khadija Shaw.

Here are the quirky moments from day four of the Women’s World Cup:

Jamaica’s bag of tricks

Prior to her red card for two clumsy challenges, Khadija Shaw had been causing France’s defence all sorts of problems.

The towering Manchester City striker is one of several players with intriguing backstories in the Jamaica squad.

Shaw is affectionately known as Bunny and it’s not because of her impressive jump, or hop, to head the ball but because she liked carrots as a kid.

She is joined in the Jamaica team by Tottenham Hotspur duo Becky Spencer and Drew Spence who have both previously been in England camps, with Spence playing twice for the Lionesses in 2015.

Jamaica were impressive in defence against France and that is in part to the connection of their centre-back pairing, who happen to be sisters.

Allyson Swaby is two years older than Chantelle, but the younger sibling edges her sister for appearances with 31 to Allyson’s 28 after both debuted in 2018.

Rainbow Nation brings the colour

South Africa arrived for their game like their African counterparts Nigeria and Zambia, singing beautiful harmonies and showing off their coordination with their dance moves.

That was not the only bit of flair or colour on show as the cameras regularly found Mama Joy Chauke in the crowd.

The vibrantly dressed fan often represents her country on the world stage and is a hero in South Africa.

And while South Africa kicked off their second appearance in an all-black kit, their pink goalkeeper outfit added another Barbie/Oppenheimer comparison that are sweeping the world.

Silva shows up

From the moment the Portuguese national anthem began to play, you could see what the country’s World Cup debut meant to Jessica Silva.

She belted every word of the anthem with tears in her eyes and then composed herself enough to deliver the standout performance for the Navegadoras.

Silva’s impact did not stop when she stepped off the pitch as she took the time to take selfies with all the fans lining the entrance to the tunnel as she made sure to share the history-making moment with as many people as possible.

Runs extended and broken on day four

Sweden bucked a trend as the ever-presents won only their third opening game of a World Cup with their victory over South Africa.

In their ninth tournament, the Blågult were forced to work for their win as South Africa went ahead in the 48th minute.

A goal for Champions League winner Fridolina Rolfo levelled proceedings 17 minutes later before new Arsenal signing Amanda Ilestedt headed home in the 90th minute to break South African hearts.

The match, the 10th of the World Cup, was the first time both teams have scored with the previous nine games featuring nine clean sheets.

All six debutant teams to have played so far are without a goal as Portugal failed to break down the Dutch defence.

Morocco and Panama will hope to buck the trend when they take on Germany and Brazil respectively tomorrow.

Portugal were unable to snap the Netherlands’ impressive streak which has now seen them win all eight World Cup games that they have led.

The Oranje Leeuwinnen missed the injured Vivianne Miedema in attack, but were dominant in defence, denying Portugal a touch in the box until the 82nd minute.

Meanwhile, Jamaica broke an unwanted run as they went into the break at 0-0, marking the first time in their two World Cups that they have not conceded in a half before shutting out the French to secure a first point and clean sheet.