It’s waltzing Matildas despite Australia’s Women’s World Cup semi-final loss to England

SYDNEY – Like millions of other Australians, Emily Pettett, a 40-year-old Sydneysider, had never taken much interest in the national women’s football team – the Matildas – until the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

But she watched the team play their first game against Ireland – which they won 1-0 – and from then on, she did not miss another minute of their subsequent games.

On Wednesday night, Pettett, who works in logistics for a fashion company, went to an overflowing pub in the Sydney suburb of Bondi to watch the Matildas play a World Cup semi-final against England. It was the first time an Australian team – men’s or women’s – had advanced this far in a World Cup.

“I didn’t realise until this World Cup how great women’s soccer was,” she told The Straits Times.

“I’ve been watching the men’s team for 20 years, but I didn’t think the women’s team would be as good a quality... It’s just as good as the men’s.”

Pettett said the Matildas have been a constant topic of conversation among her friends, family and colleagues, likening the excitement around this World Cup to the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

“Everyone is talking about it,” she said.

In the end, the Matildas’ fairy-tale run ended on Wednesday,

as the team lost 3-1 to European champions England.

The front page of Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph, referring to Matildas captain Sam Kerr, described the game as a “Heart Breakerr”.

But the disappointment was matched by praise and gratitude for a team who have captivated the nation and changed the way that this sports-obsessed country views women’s football and women’s sports.

The significance of the Matildas’ achievement at this event, which was hosted by Australia and New Zealand, is difficult to overstate.

In Australia, football is widely played but has always been considered a second-tier spectator sport, behind Australian Rules football, rugby league, rugby union and cricket.

Among the few fans who did rally behind football, the Matildas always played second fiddle to the men’s team, with the women’s league attracting meagre crowds and inferior pay.

As recently as 2015, Matildas’ players were paid as little as A$500 (S$435) to appear in an international match and many players in the national women’s league had second jobs.

But the excitement surrounding the team’s hard-fought success at this World Cup has stunned the nation.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would

consider announcing a public holiday if the Matildas won

the title, and persuaded French President Emmanuel Macron to back the Matildas after they beat France.

“The Matildas are an absolute inspiration,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the Matildas’ semi-final loss.

“You’ve shown incredible skill, ferocity and flair, and a camaraderie that defines what it means to play team sport... And I have no doubt that the next generation of Matildas were watching.”

The Matildas’ games have enjoyed record television ratings, sell-out crowds and turned the players into household names.

Team T-shirts and other merchandise have sold out, and local junior football clubs have reported record interest from young girls and boys wanting to join teams.

The Courier Mail newspaper rebranded itself “Kerr-ier Mail”, and The Daily Telegraph became the “Tillygraph”, referring to the Matildas’ nickname, the “Tillys”.

On Wednesday, 11.5 million people – out of a population of some 25 million – tuned in at some point to watch the game, while the average audience was 7.13 million, data on Thursday showed. Free-to-air host broadcaster Channel Seven said it was the most-watched programme, sport or otherwise, since the current rating system was established in 2001.

But countless more watched it at packed public venues, which often had to turn people away, as well as live at Stadium Australia, which had a sold-out crowd of 75,000.

Like Pettett, Lawrence Rom, a 31-year-old Sydney resident, decided to watch the semi-final at a pub after furiously trying to buy a ticket for the game by repeatedly hitting “refresh” on the Fifa website. “It was impossible,” he said.

He said he had always been a football “fanatic” but described the nation’s rally behind the Matildas as “overwhelming”.

“It has been really encouraging to see it happen in their home town,” he said.

Still, the Matildas, who are ranked 10th in the world, were unable to defeat England, who are ranked fourth.

England will play Spain, ranked sixth, in the final. The Matildas will play for third place against third-ranked Sweden in Brisbane.

But the hope is that this is just the beginning for the Matildas and for other Australian women’s sporting teams.

Speaking after the semi-final loss, Kerr urged governments in Australia to boost funding for women’s football to try to improve the prospects of a future World Cup victory.

“We need funding in our development,” she told reporters. “Hopefully, this tournament kind of changes that because that’s the legacy you leave, not what you do on the pitch.”

Kerr, who famously hates losing, added: “I mean, it’s hard to talk about now but, hopefully, this is the start of something new.”