The Women's World Cup 2023 attracted record crowds in the stands and on TV - both here and in Australia. It also delivered drama and off-pitch stories that livened up standard sports coverage. But will all that change the way the media cover sport? Mediawatch asks two journalists with an eye on the media on both sides of the Tasman.

The Women's World Cup 2023 attracted record crowds in the stands and on TV - both here and in Australia. It also delivered drama and off-pitch stories that livened up standard sports coverage. But will all that change the way the media cover sport? Mediawatch asks two journalists with an eye on the media on both sides of the Tasman.

The Football Ferns peaked in the World Cup in game one on day one - scoring their one and only goal of the tournament to defeat Norway.

Even though it was all downhill after that - and then out - after just three group games, Kiwis bought into the Cup in a big way.

Parts of the media not normally moved to mention women's football much suddenly couldn't stop - and it wasn't all about the winners.

"All respect to the losers. Without you the tournament is nothing," said longtime Newstalk ZB sportscaster D'Arcy Waldegrave on his All Sport Breakfast show.

"As of midnight on Sunday, only one team will experience the unadulterated joy of ascending their sporting Sagamartha - or Everest as the colonising empire called her," he said, unleashing some Kipling-esque emotions.

But the losers were literally a big part of the World Cup story. All former winners were out by the quarter-final stage, including the incumbent champs from the United States whose official advert didn't date well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfTKdHXWdho

While the biggest teams getting knocked out early was a novelty, the World Cup also delivered unique off-pitch stories for the media.

Morocco featured the first ever hijab-clad player in a World Cup. The so-called Reggae Girls from Jamaica, who knocked out Brazil, also had the most mothers in the squad. Unlike some other teams, they had to leave families and children behind because of the expense.

What went right - and wrong?

No major event goes off without a hitch. The deadly Queen Street shootings on the morning of opening day shut down the fanzone in Auckland.

Less seriously, the Dutch weren't happy with a rock-hard cricket wicket in their Tauranga training pitch - and at least some of the Spanish squad found Palmerston North a bit too dull. And this week, Football Ferns captain Ali Riley revealed they were nearly late for that opener against Norway because their bus was stuck in Auckland traffic. …

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details