Football fans will be counting down the 365 days until the tournament, which is set to be the largest women’s sporting event in the world.
More than 100 children from almost a score of different Dunedin holiday and football programmes got a kick out of the afternoon events, both in representing the city in the celebrations, and at the football fun events held by Football South.
The afternoon began with speeches from representatives of mana whenua, the Football Ferns, the Dunedin City Council, Fifa, Football South and the Dunedin Venues teams.
Cr Marie Laufiso — who attended on behalf of Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins — told the children the celebration could not have been better timed as the Maori new year signified reflections on the past and present, and to plan for the new year.
Dunedin would be hosting six of the total 64 games in the ninth Fifa Women’s World Cup, which will see 32 teams from different nations compete.
"That will put our beautiful city front and centre for women’s football fans around the world," Cr Laufiso said.
She called the sporting competition "a tournament of firsts for Dunedin".
Football Fern Emma Rolston told the children how excited she was to represent the country on home turf.
Rolston said both the team and she were excited, but as the clock ticked down to game day she expected to become nervous.
Children had the chance to win Fifa-themed prizes while they played in football fun events hosted by Football South.
The games included full team games, passing the ball, shooting some goals, keep-upsies and stealing the ball from other children.
All children who attended were given a special T-shirt to remember the event.
Tournament tickets will be released later this year.
