And so a remarkable month comes to a close for the Matildas. It ends not with a World Cup trophy, but not far off either. In fourth place, the team secured Australia’s best-ever result for a senior national team of any gender, and the second best placing for a Women’s World Cup host. By captivating the nation, delighting the public imagination, the Matildas ensured the first-ever World Cup on home soil will never be forgotten.
On Sunday morning, the team gathered for one last public appearance before the squad disbands. Cheered on by almost 5,000 fans, the team were given the keys to Brisbane – and enjoyed a surprise performance from singer Nikki Webster – after her iconic tune “Strawberry Kisses” had become an unofficial team anthem in the dressing room this tournament. The smiles and laughter said it all; after a draining month with the weight of a nation on their shoulders, finally the Matildas could relax.
In the days ahead, the players will disperse to all corners of the globe, for brief holidays and a return to club football. Sam Kerr is having a short break in Western Australia before returning to Chelsea for the Women’s Super League pre-season (she admitted last week she had left her coach “on read” about an exact return date).
Some players are joining new clubs – Hayley Raso will join Real Madrid having signed pre-tournament, while others await transfer news – Kyra Cooney-Cross has been linked with a big move after a stand-out World Cup. Only one player is destined to stay on these shores: Cortnee Vine, who will return to Sydney FC for the start of the A-League season.
As the Matildas scatter into the wind, they will reflect on a remarkable World Cup. But they might also ponder whether this was the moment Australia could have won the tournament. Is this the pinnacle for Australian football – the closest the nation will ever get to that iconic trophy? Or are the Matildas just getting started?
The answer to that question will depend on what comes next. England provide an example of gradual progression towards the top – consecutive semi-final appearances in 2015 and 2019 before reaching the final this edition. The experience gained by the Matildas at this tournament, and at the Tokyo Olympics, where they also finished fourth, could propel the team towards glory at the Paris Olympics next year and beyond.
If this is the golden generation of the Matildas, then it is fortunate that most of the squad will probably play on to another World Cup. The core starting line-up at this World Cup consisted of a group of players in their late-twenties: Raso, Alanna Kennedy and Caitlin Foord are all 28, Kerr, Steph Catley and goalkeeping sensation Mackenzie Arnold each a year older. Only Katrina Gorry is over 30. These veterans were supported by a younger starting cohort: Cooney-Cross and central defender Clare Hunt were Australia’s break-out stars over the past month, at 21 and 24-years-old respectively, while Ellie Carpenter is 23 and Mary Fowler just 20.
On Friday, Kerr insisted she was not going anywhere. “I hope to still be here, if that’s what you’re asking,” she laughed. “I’m only 29.” Nor, to the best of her knowledge, were her team-mates exiting stage left. “At the moment I haven’t heard any talk of anyone retiring or anything like that,” she added. “As long as there’s 23 spots everyone here will be fighting for them in four years to come.”
Then there’s the next generation of the Matildas – those on the bench at this World Cup, and those who did not quite make the final 23. Vine, Charlotte Grant, Clare Wheeler, Alex Chidiac and Courtney Nevin will all grow from the experience gained on this grand stage, and more players will emerge in the years ahead. “There’s probably 10-12 players out there that we’ve never heard of that will be at the next World Cup – and that’s really exciting,” Kerr said.
The end of the Matildas’ World Cup run, then, does not mark the end of the golden generation – but a gradual transition which may remain a work-in-progress in four years’ time. The professionalisation of the women’s game has enabled players to continue their careers, while more players are having children and then returning to the game – Gorry being a prominent example.
“I think it’s important that we’re excited about that young generation,” Gustavsson said last week. “But I also think it’s important that we’re excited about the players that want to extend their career and make it longer, so we can have a higher average age of retirement,”
Yet if the Matildas are to build on this extraordinary home World Cup performance, investment will need to flow from Football Australia. “The next thing now is investment – long term investment, not just a quick fix,” Gustavsson said following the loss to Sweden. “It’s the long term investment to really make sure we benefit off this cross-road moment for women’s football in this country.”
The coach revealed that since joining the team in late 2020, he had added numerous full-time staff – a goalkeeping coach, a physio, a sports scientist. “That didn’t exist when I came on-board,” he said. In the backroom and on the pitch, for youth national teams and the Matildas, funding is required. “I want to see investment now,” Gustavsson added. “Real investment, that we’re serious about what we do.”
If the funding flows, if the golden generation prolong their careers and a new cohort comes to the fore, the Matildas’ fourth-place finish need not be the pinnacle for Australian football. An even brighter future could lie ahead. “I don’t see this as an end of a journey,” Gustavsson mused at the end of his team’s World Cup campaign. “I see it as a beginning of a journey.”
