Up the road in Whangarei, the USA will be heavily fancied to beat Myanmar in the other Group A match. When a regular tournament participant meets a debutant, the result is usually predictable but this will also be a fascinating insight into the relative strengths of New Zealand's next two opponents.
Group B fires into life in Wellington when tournament favourites Argentina get their campaign underway. They won the qualifying tournament in impressive fashion and with their best ever players Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi both having played in this tournament previously, all eyes will be on Atletico Madrid striker Angel Correa to see if he might be the next big thing to emerge from this famously football-mad nation.
Panama won't be easy-beats, though. Their watertight defence was unbreached in the group stages of CONCACAF qualifying and with three of their coaches Argentinean nationals, there's more than a touch of motivation for the unfancied, yet disciplined Panama side to cause an upset.
Africa and Europe collide in the day's final game when Ghana meets Austria in the capital. Their contrasting styles should make for a fascinating contest, making the outcome practically impossible to predict.
While off-field matters have dominated football talk this week, how refreshing it is to finally have some action between the white lines to remind us that - on the field at least - this is still the beautiful game.
