Hildah Magaia had put South Africa on course for an historic first win in the tournament only for Fridolina Rolfo to score the equaliser before Ilestedt completed a 2-1 comeback triumph at the Wellington Regional Stadium in the New Zealand capital.

Sweden had the lion’s share of possession in the first half of the Group G clash but struggled to break down South Africa’s defence.

South Africa took a shock lead three minutes after the break when Magaia scored from a rebound after Zecira Musovic saved Thembi Kgatlana’s shot.

Magaia left the field in tears after suffering an injury before Rolfo levelled matters for Sweden on the 65th minute.

Sweden pressed for the winner as Caroline Seger went close before Ilestedt broke South Africa’s hearts when she got on the end of Kosovare Aslani’s corner at the death.

"We made a little too many tactical and technical mistakes and that may be due to tension," said Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson.

"It’s just nice to win though and we showed now that we can turn a match around."

The Netherlands, who finished runners-up to the United States at the 2019 World Cup, got their campaign off to a winning start with a 1-0 victory over newcomers Portugal at Dunedin in New Zealand.

Stefanie van der Gragt’s 13th minute header from a Sherida Spitse corner was enough for the Dutch team as they overcame a plucky Portuguese side in Group E.

The goal had initially been chalked off after it was ruled that Jill Roord, who was standing in an offside position, was interfering with play only for the decision to be overturned following a video assistant referee review.

The final match of the day saw Jamaica claim a hard-fought 0-0 draw with France at the Sydney Football Stadium in the Australian capital.

Kadidiatou Diani came the closest to breaking the deadlock for France as she forced a save from Rebecca Spencer before going narrowly wide just before the interval.

There was late drama as Diani saw her shot strike the crossbar before Jamaica were forced to play the remaining minutes with 10 players after Khadija Shaw was shown a second yellow card.

"There's bound to be a lot of frustration because we had a lot of chances," said Diani.

"Unfortunately, we weren't able to capitalise on them.

"We know that the competition isn't over yet, there are still two matches to go. It's up to us to make up for that."

Competition is due to continue tomorrow with Italy taking on Argentina in Group G, Brazil facing Panama in Group F and Germany meeting Morocco in Group H.