Women’s World Cup 2023: Everything you need to know about Australia

Australia World Cup 2023 fixtures, betting odds and statistics

You can read all about Republic of Ireland, Nigeria and Canada by clicking on their names here.

How did Australia qualify?

Australia qualified as co-hosts.

Australia’s major tournament record:

World Cup

Best World Cup result: Quarter-finals- 2007, 2011 & 2015.

AFC Asia Cup

Best AFC Asia Cup result: Winners- 2010.

OFC Nations Cup

Best OFC Nations Cup result: Winners- 1994, 1998 & 2003.

Olympic Games

Best Olympics result: Fourth place- 2021.

Australia at World Cup 2023

Competing on home soil, will perennial underachievers Australia enjoy their most successful World Cup of all-time?

To date, despite featuring at each of the last seven editions, Australia have only ever won a solitary knockout phase match at the World Cup.

This came in 2015, beating Brazil 1-0 in Moncton, before falling to Japan in the quarter-finals.

Four years later, the Matildas traveled to France with high-hopes, but were ousted in the round of 16 by Norway on penalties.

Since then though, now led by Tony Gustavsson, they have reached the first-ever intercontinental semi-final.

This came at the Olympic Games two summers ago, memorably beating Great Britain 4-3 after extra time in the quarters, before being beaten by Sweden in the semis, and then losing 4-3 to USA in the Bronze Medal match.

Six months later, Australia traveled to India as the favourites to win the Asia Cup, meaning it was a major disappointed when they crashed out at the hands of Korea Republic in the quarter-finals.

In the subsequent year and a half, the Matildas have enjoyed noteworthy friendly wins over Denmark, Sweden, Spain and England, victorious 2-0 in London in April.

Nevertheless, historically, this is a team that usually disappoints in crunch games.

Of course, this time, they have the major advantage of playing matches on home soil.

As co-hosts, Australia will be in action on the tournament’s opening night, facing Republic of Ireland in front of over 83,000 fans in Sydney, before taking on Nigeria in Brisbane and Canada in Melbourne.

Themselves and Canada should ease through to the knockout stages, with that matchday three clash crucial in determining top spot, as both seek to avoid a potential last 16 clash against European Champions England.

Australia team news

Defender Elise Kellond-Knight will miss this tournament injured, having ruptured her ACL in training with Melbourne Victory back in March.

Jada Mathyssen-Whyman, Chloe Logarzo, Amy Sayer, Larissa Crummer, Remy Siemsen and, most notably, Emily Gielnik were all in the provisional squad, but were cut on Monday 3 July.

Australia′s key players: Ellie Carpenter

Despite being only 23 years old, full-back Ellie Carpenter has 61 international caps to her name, and is a key player for both her national team and club side.

In 2019/20, she won the A-League double with Melbourne City, before moving over to Europe, joining the juggernauts that are Olympique Lyonnais Féminin.

With Lyon, she’s won a Coupe de France, this season’s Division 1 title and two Champions Leagues, starting at right-back in the 2022 final victory over Barcelona, although she was subbed off due to injury a mere 14 minutes in.

Similarly, this season, Carpenter made only 11 appearances for OL due to fitness issues, but started pretty much every game from mid-February onwards, so should be ready and raring to go come 20 July.

For Australia, she’s scored only three goals, two of which came in a record-breaking 18-0 demolition of Indonesia during last year’s Asia Cup.

As a teenager, she started all four of the Matildas’ games at the most-recent World Cup, and has firmly established herself as an even more key figure in this team since then.

Australia′s key players: Caitlin Foord

Australia have plenty of attacking talents in their ranks, we’ll come onto another shortly, but few are operating at the high level that Caitlin Foord is.

Since joining Arsenal in January 2020, the winger has scored 33 goals in 87 games for the Gunners, netting 12 times this season, most notably bagging a brace in a 5-1 away win over European Champions Lyon.

Foord also ended the season in top form, bagging two against both Tottenham ad Everton, as Arsenal surged into a Champions League spot in the WSL.

At international level, the 28 year old already has over 100 caps to her name, scoring at four different major tournaments.

In France four summers ago, she started three of the four matches on the left-wing, on target in a 3-2 win over Brazil, in which the Matildas had to fight back from 2-0 down.

Despite the presence of other talented attackers, namely Mary Fowler, Hayley Raso, Kyah Simon and Emily Gielnik, Foord is one of the first names on the teamsheet.

Australia′s key players: Sam Kerr

Trying to decide who a team’s star player is can often be divisive, although this is not the case with Australia.

Sam Kerr is the undisputed talismanic figure in Australia’s squad as she is, undeniably, one of the best forwards on the planet.

The 29 year old will lead out her nation at this home tournament as captain, looking to add to her tally of 63 international goals, further extending her own record.

Since making her debut as a 15 year old in 2009, Kerr has represented the Matildas 120 times, first scoring in the 2010 Asia Cup Final, as a 16 year old, when her team beat Korea DPR on penalties.

Subsequently, she’s netted seven times at the Olympic Games, including six in 2021 as Australia reached the semis for the very first time.

Meantime, at the World Cup in France, she scored five times in the group stages, four of which came against Jamaica, but then heartbreakingly missed her penalty in the shootout defeat to Norway in the round of 16.

Her 63rd, and most-recent, international goal came in a 2-0 victory over England in London back in April, a result that means Australia come into this competition with a sense of optimism.

Speaking of West London, Kerr has won ten major honours with current club Chelsea, including four consecutive FAWSL titles.

She has scored 91 goals in 116 appearances for the Blues, 30 of which came this season as Chelsea won a third consecutive league and FA Cup double, with Kerr the match-winner at Wembley in May’s cup final.

Before that, Kerr had represented Perth Glory and Sydney FC in her homeland, before also playing for Western New York Flash, Sky Blue FC and Chicago Red Stars over in the United States.

Thus, despite having not played there for four years, she’s the A-League’s second-top scorer of all-time, whilst also the NWSL’s record scorer, which is a very impressive feat.

Kerr has conquered club football on three different continents, now desperate to lead her nation to World Cup glory.

Australia′s possible starting line-up for World Cup 2023

Australia′s full squad for World Cup 2023

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Forwards

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Group B table