Traditional powerhouses Brazil breezed past newcomers Panama 4-0 on Monday night to make a confident stride towards a last-16 berth at the FIFA Women's World
Ary Borges scored three goals and assisted another in her World Cup debut, leading Brazil to provisional top place in Group F after the first round of games.
Panama, the 32nd-ranked and last team to seal their place at this tournament, saw some of their players crying when singing anthem before the kick-off, which was an emotional moment in a winter evening in Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia (SA).
Brazil, one of a select band of teams who have appeared at every Women's World Cup, dominated the match as their speed, skill and possession of the ball were on a clearly higher level.
Debinha's swinging cross from the left found unmarked Borges at the back post, who headed it down to give Brazil the lead 19 minutes after the opening whistle.
The 23-year-old attacking midfielder kneeled down and buried her face in arms, as she was in tears to celebrate her first goal at the World Cup.
It was Borges again to score in the 39th minute when she met another left cross from Tamires and delivered a firm header from close range. Although goalkeeper Yenith Bailey parried it away, the Brazilian playmaker was there to tap in the rebound.
Panama battled with a 5-4-1 formation but were struggling hard to contain Brazil, who continued their fluent attack after the restart.
Borges controlled the ball calmly in the area after picking up a cross from Debinha, delivered a backheel pass into the path of Bia Zaneratto, who made it 3-0 in the 48th minute.
Borges completed her dream debut show in the 70th minute when she was free in the area to head the ball through the legs of Bailey.
Brazilian veteran Marta, the most prolific scorer at the World Cup (17 in 20 matches), replaced Borges with 15 minutes left to embrace her sixth World Cup, arousing a thunderous ovation from the 13,142 crowd at Hindmarsh Stadium.
The 43rd-ranked Jamaica pulled off a surprise on Sunday by holding favourites France to a goalless draw in the same group.
The 2023 Women's World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20, will see the top two teams from each of the eight groups progress to the last 16.
This marks the inaugural instance of the women's football's premier tournament expanding to a 32-team format.
