Above: The Matildas celebrating after a 3-0 victory against Uzbekistan in the first-leg of the Olympic qualifiers. Photo: Matilda’s Instagram.
By Freya Hiscott (29/02/24)
A reflection on the Matilda’s World Cup and Olympic qualifier success as Paris 2024 is in sight.
During July and August of last year the Matildas co-hosted the Women’s World Cup alongside New Zealand, where 32 nations fought for the ultimate winning title in Women’s football. Now the Matildas are back and battling it out for Olympic gold.
The impact the Matildas had on the Australian nation was inspiring. A record number of shirts were sold, with the home and away kits completely selling out before the Semi-Finals, surpassing the Socceroos (the mens Australian National team) in the area of overall merchandise sales before the tournament even began.
The Matildas played with pride throughout the competition and exhibited incredible competence and skill. The teams collective ability and passion led them all the way to the semi-final of the World Cup where they competed against England.
During the World Cup the Matildas secured record-breaking attendances, performed in the longest penalty shootout in the history of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and managed to outnumber Cathy Freeman’s gold medal run with a record-breaking TV audience in the semi-final. The viewers for the Matildas v England World Cup semi-final peaked at an astonishing 11.15 million.
Although the Matildas journey in the World Cup came to an end in the semi-finals, their impact on the Australian nation was visibly noticeable and continues on. Every step they took on the pitch was proof that women’s football deserves a lot more recognition for the skill, dedication and the innumerable hours of hard work that was evidently displayed during the tournament, combatting outdated misconceptions of women’s sport.
Throughout the Matildas journey they taught the nation the importance of teamwork and spirit, influencing many young girls especially, to work hard for what they’re passionate for. The Matildas are deemed as role models for many young children across Australia and worldwide and continue to help shift the negative attitudes towards women’s football.
Above: The Matildas after suffering a defeat to England in the semi-final of the Women’s World Cup. Photo: Matildas Instagram.
So, what’s next for the Matildas?
In the recent international window the Matildas returned for the 2024 Olympic qualifiers. A tournament that means a lot to the team. Head coach Tony Gustavsson recalls the 2020 Olympics being the first tournament he experienced as coach leading the Matildas to fourth place, the best the Matilda’s have ever achieved in the Olympics.
However, Australia’s captain and star player Sam Kerr is unfortunately out of the running. Kerr has achieved over 100 caps for Australia and scored over 60 goals, but has recently ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) whilst training overseas with Chelsea.
This injury means Kerr is unable to complete the second half of the Barclays Women’s Super League season with her four-time title winning team and was unable to portray her skill and leadership in the round three series of the Olympic qualifiers against Uzbekistan.
Gustavsson recently revealed that Arsenal left back and Matilda’s former vice-captain, Steph Catley will captain Australia’s national team in the absence of Kerr.
The Matildas successfully eased to a 3-0 win over Uzbekistan on Saturday and were only 90 minutes away from Paris 2024. With a promising start to the playoffs the Matildas were back home on Wednesday evening for the second-leg of the playoffs in Melbourne.
Victoriously, the Matildas completed their second victory over Uzbekistan winning an astonishing 10-0 (13-0 on aggregate) in the sold-out Marvel Stadium and have now secured their ticket to the Olympics and one step closer to gold.
On Saturday’s match against Uzbekistan, we saw the return of Michelle Heyman. In my opinion a crucial addition to the Matildas team, who despite not making an international appearance since 2018, managed to mark her return with the first goal of the match. Heyman expertly headed the ball into the net after Uzbekistan failed to clear Catley’s corner.
Above: Michelle Heyman after scoring the first goal for Australia against Uzbekistan on her international return. Photo: Michelle Heyman on Instagram.
From a supporter’s perspective, I really enjoyed watching Heyman play some international minutes and being given the opportunity to prove herself in the Olympic qualifiers. It’s exciting to see how impactful she has been in the recent matches, scoring five incredible goals in only two games; including a first-half hat-trick on Wednesday. Her performance serves as a positive insight into the Matildas potential success.
Next up for the Matildas are the Olympics, but what national teams will be their toughest competitors?
The Olympics will serve as a huge tournament for Gustavsson’s side as the core of the Matildas have been together a decade. With this it means that the Olympics may be the last time we see the current team play together especially competing in a major tournament.
In 2020 the Tokyo Olympics commenced where the Matilda’s fell just short of a medal. The Australian national team were defeated 1-0 by Sweden in the semi-final, and then later beaten 4-3 by USA in the bronze medal match. This left the Matilda’s in fourth place, which is their current best Olympic finish .
The Matildas also fell short of a medal in last years World Cup where they were beaten 2-0 by Sweden. However, Sweden’s national team will not compete in the summer Olympics for the first time ever, after losing to Switzerland 1-0 in the UEFA Women’s Nations League.
In this years Olympics I believe that the Spanish national team and the USA will be the most challenging teams to compete against for the chance of winning a medal. However, the Matildas are currently in excellent form and Heyman has cemented her way back into the squad which gave them the goals that they need.
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