Bridget Exner got a Steph Catley tattoo. Rana Hussain’s daughter is alternating between wearing her hair like Matildas’ striker Sam Kerr (low ponytail, middle part) and her sports hijab like Moroccan defender Nouhaila Benzina. At Maddy Hoffman’s house in Western Australia, Dorothy, or Doe, is too little to fit into the official merchandise. Naturally, she wears a handmade Matildas onesie instead.
All around Australia, World Cup fever has taken hold.
Some who’ve never shown an interest in sport are suddenly painting their faces and frantically searching for tickets to sold-out matches in their home cities.
For Emily Lockwood, the past few weeks have been a celebration. But they’ve also been emotional.
Her young daughters, Matilda and Sabine, arrived at the first game in matching handmade T-shirts, faces painted in bright love hearts. Sabine’s T-shirt had “The Sabines” written on it at her request to overcome traditional sibling rivalry.
Matilda, seven, has been a fan for as long as she can remember. She says her name “just helps”.
Matilda’s favourite parts of the World Cup have been “when the Matildas win”, Ellie Carpenter and wearing the Australian team’s top her mum made her.
“Ellie Carpenter is a really good player, always trying to help her teammates and comforting the other team,” she says.
Matilda is confident “we’re going to win the whole World Cup”, adding that when it occurs she will “go wild”.
“I love the Matildas,” Sabine, four, interjects.
For their mum, the emotion comes from “raising girls who don’t understand this isn’t how it’s always been”.
“When we went to the Jamaica v France game, my youngest asked if boys can play soccer and I realised she really didn’t know because everything we watch … [is] professional women,” she says. “And that’s what she can aspire to.”
The Sydney family has the merchandise, they’ve been collecting stickers and cards and have scored tickets for the semis and the final.
“The kids won’t stop humming the unity beat [the World Cup chant]. We’ve been going to and watching games – all of the ‘things’,” Lockwood says.
“But I think one of the biggest impacts will be the memory of … heading to a game and one of the girls shouting, ‘go Matildas’ at other supporters and hearing ‘go the Matildas’ right back.”
Kris Goman is attending 23 of the 64 World Cup matches. She’s pretty sure she’s the only person who has made it to two games in different cities on the same day.
“On Saturday I went to Netherlands v South Africa at the [Sydney Football Stadium], then got the 3pm flight to Melbourne and saw the USA v Sweden match. Got there three minutes after kick-off,” she says.
Goman hasn’t decorated her house because, with all the travel, she’s rarely home, but she has a growing collection of kits to support the various teams.
“It’s been hectic … I’ve been managing it all through a spreadsheet,” she says.
Fiona Burnett’s two daughters, 11 and 13, watched the first match at their local football club in Brisbane, where they both play.
They’re attending six matches at home, including on Saturday, when her youngest, Pippa, will be dressed in a kangaroo suit.
They’ve decorated the whole home in Matildas gear, made Matildas crafts and baked Matildas gingerbread for the local school fair.
“Everyone was pretty pumped,” Burnett says. “It’s all we’re talking about at school, at work, when you bump into people.”
Burnett bought the decorations well in advance of the World Cup at a party shop, while her eldest, Emily, crafted jerseys of the whole team from plastic beads prior to the first game.
Asked what got her daughters into the team, she replies: “It really was Sam Kerr, this amazing player.
“But as soon as you start to get to know the others and see it on telly, it gets them so excited. It’s just having a role model that looks like you – you think, ‘I could do that’.
“Now they both know all their names. They love [Hayley] Raso with her ribbon, [Mary] Fowler with her gloves – it’s hard to pick one favourite.”
Saturday will be big – her daughters are already asking for extra football training and they’ve scored tickets near the front row.
“We need to up the ante,” she says. “So we’ve got the kangaroo onesie with Kerr’s jersey over the top.”
And if they win the ultimate game?
“Could you imagine?” Burnett says. “At least a month of partying.”
