Australia Women's National Football Team 2024 Players, Squad, Stadium, Kit, and much more

Here in this article, you will get to know about Australia Women’s National Football Team 2024 Players, Squad, History, Stadium, Nickname, Kits, and more.

Australia Women’s National Football Team Profile Summary

Nickname(s)	Matildas
Association	Football Australia
Confederation	OFC (Oceania): 1966–2006 AFC (Asia); 2006–present
Sub-confederation	AFF (Southeast Asia)
Head coach	Tony Gustavsson
Captain	Sam Kerr
Most caps	Clare Polkinghorne (154)
Top scorer	Sam Kerr (62)
FIFA code	AUS

About Australia Women’s National Football Team

The Australia women’s national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the ASEAN Regional Football Federation (AFF) since leaving the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). ) in 2006. The team’s official nickname is “the Matildas” (from the Australian folk song Waltzing Matilda), being known as the “Female Socceroos” prior to 1995.

Australia are three-time OFC champions, once AFC champions and once AFF champions, becoming the first national team to win in two different confederations (before the men’s team did the same in the World Cup). 2015 AFC Asian Cup). The team has represented Australia at the FIFA Women’s World Cup seven times and at the Olympic Games four times, although they have not won any tournaments. Immediately after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Australia was ranked 11th in the world by FIFA.

Australia will co-host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup along with New Zealand, making the Matildas automatically qualify for this event as co-hosts.

Australia Women’s National Football Team History

Foundation

The Australian Women’s Soccer Association (AWSA) was founded in 1974, and a representative Australian team competed in the following year’s Women’s Asian Championship. This team was officially recognized in 2022, with all 16 team members officially awarded caps. Pat O’Connor captained this team with her husband Joe, the coach. They finished third in the tournament which is now recognized as the first Asian Cup. A national team made up primarily of players from New South Wales and Western Australia was sent to the inaugural 1978 Women’s World Invitational Tournament, in Taipei, Taiwan. Australia played against club teams in the tournament and none of the players’ appearances counted as official matches. Led by Jim Selby, the selected players were: Sandra Brentnall (WA), Julie Dolan (captain, NSW), Julie Clayton (WA), Kim Coates (NSW), Julie Dolan (NSW), Cindy Heydon (NSW).

The 1980s: development in Oceania

Australia played in the first Oceania Cup in 1983 in New Caledonia, losing the final to New Zealand after extra time. It was the first time the Australians had faced a team other than the New Zealand “Football Ferns”. A team would not be assembled again until the next edition of the tournament in 1986 in New Zealand, which featured Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan, as well as the New Zealand B team. Australia lost again in the final, beaten 4-1 by Taiwan.

The 1990s: Continued Growth

Between 1991 and 1994, the Matildas played internationally during a tour of Russia in 1994. The Oceania tournament in 1994 again doubled as a World Cup qualifier in the same round-robin format. Again, Australia finished level with New Zealand on points, but this time they had a superior goal difference and qualified for their first FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Prior to 1995, the nickname for the women’s team was simply “Female Socceroos”, derived from the men’s team. Thus, in 1995, the Australian Women’s Football Association teamed up with the Special Broadcasting Service to broadcast a naming contest for the women’s team. Out of five names, the popular vote chose “Matildas”, from the song “Waltzing Matilda”. The players themselves did not approve of the name and it took years for the nickname to be used to describe the team.

2000–2004: First Olympic Games appearances

The profile created for the sport lasted until the year 2000, when the Matildas had a guaranteed place at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. While a January friendly match against the Czech Republic at Melbourne’s Bob Jane Stadium drew just 1,500, a crowd of 10,000 turned out for the Matildas’ game against China at Sydney’s football stadium in June. Much anticipation surrounded the team’s Olympic performance on home soil, but a 3-0 loss to Germany in their opening game dashed those hopes. A draw with Sweden and a final loss to Brazil ended their tournament in the first round. While on-field performances were disappointing, match attendances were high for women’s football in Australia, raising the profile of the game.

After the 2020 Olympics

Following their Olympic Games bronze medal loss, Australia played their first game against the Republic of Ireland on 21 September 2021, marking Sam Kerr’s 100th game. In October, they played a series of home friendlies against Brazil, their first home games since 2019, recording a win and a draw. In November, in their last matches of the 2021 calendar year, they played another series of home friendlies against world number 1 USA, recording a loss and a draw. These two matches broke attendance records in Australia: the first match played on 27 November at Stadium Australia, Sydney, broke the all-time independent Matildas home attendance record set in 2000, with 36,109.

AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022, India

The Matildas began 2022 by participating in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, held in India. They were drawn in Group B, against Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. They played their first game against Indonesia, beating them 18-0, a record win for the team against any opponent within the Asian confederation. The game also saw Sam Kerr scoring 5 goals, equaling and surpassing Tim Cahill’s previous Australian international record of 50 goals, making Kerr the all-time leading goalscorer for Australia, both male and female. Australia finished top of their group unbeaten, conceding just a solitary goal, however the team crashed out in the quarter-finals to eventual runners-up South Korea 0–1. Despite the tournament serving as the Asian qualifying stage for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Australia will still participate despite failing to make it past the quarterfinals as the country is one of the hosts of the upcoming competition.

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023

Australia will co-host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup along with New Zealand, after the bid decision was announced on June 25, 2020. As hosts, Australia was drawn into Group B, a group that also includes to Canada, Nigeria and newcomer Ireland.

Prior to the tournament, Australia participated in the 2023 Nations Cup alongside Spain, Jamaica and the Czech Republic. Australia already defeated the Czech Republic 4-0 in their first game and Spain 3-2 in their second game, needing only a draw in their game against Jamaica to win the tournament.