The Netherlands squeezed past Portugal at Dunedin Stadium, with centre-half Stephanie Van Der Gragt's early header enough to earn a 1 - 0 win for Andries Jonker's side and spoil Portugal's World Cup debut.
Van Der Gragt rose highest to meet a deep, powerful delivery from a Sherida Spitse corner, heading across goal into the far corner after 14 minutes.
The goal was initially ruled out for offside with Jill Roord thought to have blocked Portugal goalkeeper Ines Pereira, but after a VAR review, the goal was given, as Pereira had already missed Van Der Gragt's header by the time Roord got in her way.
Portugal started the game with a good intensity, driving forward whenever possible and causing problems for the Dutch, especially through striker Jessica Silva.
Silva was the standout player for Portugal throughout, dropping into midfielder from her starting position as a striker, even ending up in the right-back position at one point. She put in a real shift for her country.
After conceding though Portugal were on the back foot for the rest of the first half. Just five minutes after going behind they should've found themselves 2 - 0 down, as Jill Roord missed a free header from six yards out.
Lineth Beerensteyn, who was sprinting for the majority of the 90 minutes, came very close with an effort towards the near post after a scramble in the Portugal box just before half-time.
She deserved a goal for her fantastic performance at Dunedin Stadium.
The best chance of the second-half came just seven minutes after Portugal restarted the match.
Beerensteyn was the one making life difficult for the Portugal defence once again, her shot deflecting into the path of Danielle Van De Donk just 10 yards out. The Lyon midfielder got a powerful shot away but could only put it straight at Ines Pereira in the Portuguese goal.
Portugal did break up the Dutch control mid way through the second half but struggled to create chances. Their best chance fell for substitute Telma Encarnacao, who curled a shot towards goal which needed beating away by Dutch goalkeeper Daphne Van Domselaar with ten minutes to play.
Six minutes of added time were played but it was actually the Netherlands who came closest to scoring in stoppage time, with Lieke Martens hitting a fantastic volley narrowly wide of the top corner.
Even without the somewhat elusive second goal, the Dutch held on for victory. They are without Vivianne Miedema for this tournament, their all time leading goal scorer, and their lack of a lethal striker was clear to see. Nevertheless, they controlled the majority of the match and deserved the three points.
Whilst the result didn't go their way, Portugal showed passion in their performance, enough to encourage their supporters to believe a win against Vietnam in their second match is more than possible.
Even during the national anthems and team photos the unity and emotion in this team was evident.
The main issue for Portugal, as it has been for the past 12 months, was their complete lack of ability to defend set pieces. As well as conceding from a set piece, they looked completely disorganised every time the Dutch swung a ball into the box.
There were plenty of positives for Francisco Neto to take from this opening though. Portugal were far better than any of the other first-time qualifiers we've seen so far and are certainly not down and out after one narrow defeat.
They continue their campaign against Vietnam on Thursday morning (UK time), after the USA face the Netherlands in a repeat of the 2019 final in the early hours.
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