Matildas obsession grips Australia as the women’s team captures the hearts of the World Cup hosts

Sydney, Australia – Nothing can compete with Matilda.

Meetings cancelled. Other sporting events, rescheduled. Pubs stock up and viewing centers across the capital set up huge screens, bracing for fans obsessed with Matildas.

When the Australian women’s national team, Matilda as she’s nicknamed here, takes to the field on Wednesday night (6 a.m. Wednesday ET) in her first World Cup semi-final against England, the country will be standing still starkly in front of her televisions. (Unless, of course, you’re one of the lucky 80,000 fans who crammed into Stadium Australia in Sydney, one of the nine cities in Australia and New Zealand where the 2023 matches are being held.)

Hours before the game, fans dressed in the team’s green and gold kit were already gathering at the stadium as well as Tumbalong Park, where it will be shown for free on giant screens.

“It puts these incredible women center stage for them to, you know, have the best game of their lives,” Ryali Banerjee said off the field before the match on Wednesday.

Progress from the group stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup has jolted the Australian sports-centric spirit. And when the team fought against France in the longest penalty shootout in World Cup history, men or women, the whole country dared to dream.

“No national team has so magically merged hopes and dreams as the Matildas,” declared the Sydney Morning Herald’s front page on the Wednesday before the match against England.

Another Australian broadsheet, The Daily Telegraph, changed its masthead to “Tillygraph” as a nod to the team and included a glossy “Go Matildas” sticker in every issue earlier this week.

This women’s soccer team’s best performance in a World Cup finals date back to 2007, where they lost in the quarter-finals to Brazil. Sixteen years later, during the Matildas’ quarter-final match against France last Saturday, the Australian match announcer made a remark around the 72nd minute.

This is the moment we stop naming it for women “Football, it’s just football,” he said, adding, “This World Cup will go down in history as soon as it goes mainstream.”

“There is a seismic shift happening right now,” his fellow broadcaster added.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has backed calls from state and territory leaders for a public holiday if the Matildas win the final on August 20.

“This is something much more than a sporting event,” he said in a radio interview Monday with state broadcaster ABC. “This is inspiring for little girls in particular, but also for little boys.”

By all accounts, Australia is a sports-loving nation, but football isn’t at its core – rugby and Australian rules football have always been more popular.

“The most exciting thing is when you see groups of men talking about it, and there are no women,” Sarah Prestwood said off the field before the game on Wednesday. “And they talk about sports with the same passion that they talk about football, that is, rugby or the NFL or whatever.”

The country’s newfound love for women’s soccer is reminiscent of the United States in 1999, when the United States women’s national team’s World Cup victory—symbolized by Brandi Chastain ripping her jersey after the winning goal—inspired national pride in the team and the sport. . The US Women’s National Team remains the only World Cup host to win the tournament.

The support of the Australian women’s team also contrasts with the backlash this year against the top-ranked US team, which some have criticized at home after losing in the last 16.

Australia’s Seven Network, the tournament’s official broadcaster here, reported that it had an audience of 7.2 million people last Saturday when Australia defeated France in a penalty shootout 7-6. A video of a plane of people watching the gunfire on their screens and applauding at the moment of victory was widely seen online.

The quarter-final was watched by an average of 4.17 million viewers, the network said, making it the most watched event on Australian television this year and the most watched sporting event in more than two decades.

Tonight, with the Matildas facing off against the Lionesses of England, the European champions, the crowd is expected to erase that record.

Natalie Helm, her 6-year-old daughter, said it was touching to see the effect the team’s success had on the children: “Someone told us they heard a little girl say to a boy, ‘What’s the boy called Matildas?'” “