Australia’s Katrina Gorry (left) and Lauren Holiday, of the US, battle for possession.

The United States brought the Women’s World Cup to life yesterday as they rose to the top of the ‘Group of Death’ with a 3-1 win over Australia in front of a raucous crowd.

A day after Ivory Coast were thrashed 10-0 by Germany, Nigeria and Cameroon restored African pride while Japan opened the defence of their title in Vancouver with a 1-0 win over Switzerland courtesy of a 29th minute strike from Aya Miyama.

Cameroon, who were making their first World Cup appearance, looked right at home on soccer’s biggest stage as Gaelle Enga-namouit scored a hat-trick to lead the 53rd ranked Les Lionnes to a 6-0 victory over South American debutants Ecuador.

Nigeria and Sweden, who have appeared in all seven women’s World Cups, experienced some jitters in Winnipeg with Francisca Ordega grabbing a late equaliser for the Africans to earn a 3-3 draw.

No nation will face a tougher road to the final than those in Group D, which features three teams ranked in the top 10, the US (2), Sweden (5), Australia (10) and the 33rd-ranked Nigerians, who are the top African nation.

The first appearance by the United States created an electric atmosphere as fans flooded across the border, filling Winnipeg Stadium with a boisterous red, white and blue flag-waving crowd.

The American Outlaws, a US supporters group, turned the north grandstand into a swath of red, white and blue with chants of “USA, USA” echoing through the stadium for most of the match.

American supporters have taken over the downtown area in Winnipeg with groups filling restaurants and pubs bringing a lively buzz to the tournament that has been lacking in some of the other five venues in Canada so far.

“A couple of players, I heard them as they were taking the pitch for warm-ups say, ‘it’s like we’re playing at home’,” said US coach Jill Ellis.

“It was tremendous, they were behind us, the Outlaws were there and friends and family but there were fans, just fans of soccer it was great to have that kind of noise and support in the stadium for almost the entire match.”

The United States girls did their part as they extended their unbeaten run over the Matildas to 25 games as Megan Rapinoe scored twice and popular goalkeeper Hope Solo produced some dazzling saves early in the match.

The victory set up an intriguing showdown with former coach Pia Sundhage’s Swedish side on Friday.

Sundhage had spent five years with the US team, leading them to two Olympic gold medals and a runner-up finish in the 2011 World Cup, before she returned to coach her native Sweden.

Played yesterday: (Group F) France vs England 1-0.