Australia has finally become a football country, and it is all thanks to the irrepressible Matildas.
It took 20 penalties to put Australia into a first Women’s World Cup semi-final after Cortnee Vine finally broke the tension in Brisbane by slotting the ball past French goalkeeper Solène Durand.
A record audience of 4.17 million people watched Australia defeat France in the quarter-final, making it the biggest broadcast event of 2023.
For context, these are bigger numbers than either the Aussie Rules Grand Final, rugby league’s beloved State of Origin series, or even the Ashes. Bars across the country and fan zones such as Melbourne’s Federation Square and Sydney Olympic Park were packed to capacity for the game.
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The Matildas, or the “Tillies”, as they are also known in a country that enjoys an abbreviation more than most, have become a unifying factor for the country.
New South Wales newspaper the Daily Telegraph even briefly changed its masthead to the Daily Tillygraph. Australia is a highly competitive sporting market, where the AFL, the NRL, and football are constantly competing for a captive audience and participants. For once, everyone in sport is united behind a common cause.
During the quarter-final against France, it was noteworthy that the Sydney Cricket Ground decided to show the game on the big screen following the Sydney Swans’ victory over the Gold Coast Suns in the AFL.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground was filled with fans from Carlton and Melbourne huddled together in the concourse, caught in the drama of the shootout and eventual raucous celebrations that followed. For once, in Melbourne, Australian Football waited patiently on the sidelines.
Footage of an Emirates flight with Australian passengers during the penalty shootout went viral across the country. The cabin is silent before erupting in cheers when Vine’s penalty went into the net. Every screen in the cabin was set to the game, apart from one oblivious soul who was happily watching Lord of the Rings.
One man who didn’t catch the full drama of the penalty shootout was former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce. Barnaby is rarely seen without his large cowboy hat, and his conservative policies are enduringly popular with his rural electorate. Joyce settled down to watch the game in the small country town of Walcha in New South Wales and posted on Facebook that he was fully behind the Matildas.
There was a small issue however. While the country was caught in the agony of a prolonged penalty shootout, Barnaby and his pub mates were inexplicably watching a comfortable 1-0 friendly win against France in July.
The next morning on Breakfast News, he looked befuddled at how this had happened and said that he’d happily gone for dinner oblivious to the tension. A wag on Twitter stated that, for once, Barnaby was only a few months behind the rest of Australia and that this should be considered great progress.
The World Cup has slowly but surely built up steam in a sports-crazed country. All games have been well attended in person at the stadiums, but the tournament has been blighted by limited free-to-air television access. It has been possible to watch all Matildas’ games on terrestrial television, but too many games have been behind a paywall.
After a stuttering start against Ireland and a defeat against Nigeria, the Matildas finally found their confidence in an emphatic 4-0 win over Canada to end the group stage. The country finally believed that something special could happen. The media focus on Chelsea star and Matildas captain Sam Kerr has been unprecedented, and in some cases crazed.
Kerr has been nursing a troublesome calf injury that has limited her minutes on the pitch, and ahead of their round of 16 clash against Denmark, a helicopter was seen above their training ground. Initially, the team thought it was an opposition scout, instead, it was a media outlet trying to get the scoop on whether Kerr was training or not.
Kerr’s number 20 jersey is a popular seller in sports stores across the country, and it is not unusual to see men proudly wearing them on the street and in pubs. There has been unprecedented demand for the Matildas’ jersey across the country ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final against England in Sydney. It has been reported that more Matildas jerseys have been sold in Australia in the past three months than before, during, and after any previous tournament.
The Matildas have provided heroes to everyone in Australia. Goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, who played her part in the penalty shootout with some exceptional saves, recently revealed that she lives with hearing loss, inspiring children with disabilities to play and enjoy the game.
Mary Fowler, the talented Manchester City striker who rarely stops smiling, has a dedicated group of schoolchildren that mob her at every airport she arrives at with the team.
Fowler’s father is from Ireland, and her mother is from Papua New Guinea; she represents the multicultural nation that Australia aspires to be. Fowler wears gloves regardless of whether she’s playing in the tropics of Queensland or in chilly Melbourne, out of habit, and is often signing autographs or taking selfies with similarly gloved children.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has been promising he will push for the country to have a public holiday should the team go all the way and win the World Cup.
Football Australia has not missed an opportunity to ride the wave of good feeling and has recently lobbied the government for $500 million in grassroots funding. There is incredible momentum from the Matildas, but there also needs to be a proper legacy from their achievements.
The old enemy of England awaits Australia at Sydney’s Stadium Australia for Wednesday night’s semi-final. The Matildas will enter the game as underdogs against an England team that is growing with confidence.
It is the same venue where Cathy Freeman won her memorable 400m Olympic gold medal in 2000. On that night, Australia believed that anything was possible. The Matildas are ready to make the country dream again.
