Women's World Cup Opening Ceremony 2015: Highlights and Twitter Reaction

The 2015 Women's World Cup officially got underway on Saturday evening as Canada welcomed the biggest spectacle in football to its shores.

Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium will feature the opening match of the tournament later on Saturday as hosts Canada face China P.R., but the opening ceremony ensured the competition started with flair.

And as Canada were deemed hosts for the 2015 extravaganza, it's only natural that some of the nation's biggest artists and cultural themes should play a leading role in the opening act.

It's entirely fitting the Women's World Cup gets its start right at the climax of Women's Sports Week, and the National Organising Committee engineered the opening ceremony with female empowerment at its core.

Equality, unification and a celebration of football in general also played a role in the message behind the display, painted by a young girl growing up with football as one of her deepest loves.

An occasion of this magnitude wouldn't be complete without the musical material to back it up, though, and it was just as well Nova Scotia-born superstar Sarah McLachlan was on hand to lend her voice, per The Women's Game:

The international songstress performed her hit "In Your Shoes" before Alberta natives and twin act Tegan and Sara took to the stage.

The indie duo took their turn performing "I'm Not Your Hero," much to the enjoyment of Naheed Nenshi, the Mayor of Calgary:

Behind all the entertainment, there was a more serious tone to the event, too. The Edmonton crowd fell into raptures when Women’s World Cup Event Ambassador Kara Lang took to the pitch alongside five-time Olympic medalist Hayley Wickenheiser and Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games medalist Chantal Petitclerc.

Lang was the youngest player ever to represent Canada's women's national team at the age of 15, but injuries forced her into an early retirement from the sport, with some emphasising their regret:

"

Goddam Kara Lang. You're supposed to be in this squad if not for your knees becoming paper masche so soon. Very tragic

— Mohamed (@MoeSquare) June 6, 2015"

Of course, the opening ceremony served as ideal fodder to look on to the brighter aspects of the game and how players just like Lang helped it to evolve to what it is today.

Canada couldn't have hoped to introduce its Women's World Cup in a much more fitting way, and with football going through a grim period of late, the tournament is perfectly timed to play its role as a beacon for the sport.