Key events
Two hours to kick-off. Gates are open at Stadium Australia.
Our @FIFAWWC semi-final will take place at Stadium Australia in Sydney / Wangal. 🏟
We acknowledge the Wangal as the first Custodians of the land, air and water where Stadium Australia is situated today, and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging. pic.twitter.com/4KQtcEkk3Q
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) August 16, 2023
Following on from Tom’s email, it’s fun getting caught up in the hoopla around tonight’s match, and the World Cup in general, but it’s important the sport’s leaders capitalise on these positive emotions.
Australia has embraced the tournament in spectacular fashion – and it could prove gamechanging.
“Just scrolling through your blog on the Guardian, from work this morning here in Oslo, Norway, having never experienced this sort of agitation (nerves, anticipation, hope, fear, etc) for and in the lead up to a game of football. Have loved the Guardian coverage throughout the world cup, and love what the Matildas are doing and the fantastic, broader social and cultural impacts this team and the world cup are having!” Pleasure to have you on board Tom Griffiths.
What’s that? Speak up? You want to what? You want to eat like a Matildas fan? Sure, why not, all bets are off.
From short-order snacks to a proper hot meal, this last-minute green and gold culinary lineup will see you through the Australian team’s run in the Women’s World Cup.
Caitlin Cassidy, Guardian Australia’s higher education correspondent and op-shop fashionista shows you how it’s done.
So now you know it’s a big deal, and you’ve been tipped-off on how to blag your way through the 90-minutes, what should you wear?
Unprecedented merchandise sales have led to major stockists running low. Here’s how to buy Matildas merch, or make your own to dress the part.
“OMG what’s a Possie to do?” asks dual-citizen Steve Hall. “I’ve screamed in support of the magnificent Matildas, was at the Denmark game, trembled & sweated throughout the penalty shoot out. They are superb. But I’ve been waiting for England to win the World Cup since 1966 (when I went to four games).
Was at the England v Denmark & Colombia games, wearing my Aussie shirt under my Lioness shirt. Now I sit in Strathfield with a beer before heading for the stadium – wearing my Lioness jersey. I have to support England – but whoever wins, I both win & lose. At least I’ll have someone to scream for in the final.
I hate this game. I love it. Come on England – and the Matildas. In that order.”
Go well Steve, and if England do win, you would surely be in a very select minority of fans to have witnessed both victorious World Cup campaigns.
Are you an Australian new to football, worried about demonstrating your dinky-di credentials at semi-final watchalong? Fear not…
For this reason, I’ve prepared this entirely subjective “latecomer football fan guide to Matilding your life”.
Maybe megamusic bingo could do a Matildas crossover night? I’m picturing Phoenix Nights with Dave Spikey compering in shiny shoes. “Doctor’s orders, number nine! Cailin Foord… Quack quack! Two little ducks 22, Charlotte Grant… Kelly’s eye, the number one – Lydia Williams.” Etc etc…
How massive is tonight’s blockbuster? Well…
The operator of Q and A trivia and megamusic bingo said multiple Sydney pubs had cancelled events for the evening because they could make more money from people coming to watch the game.
The prematch hum around Stadium Australia looks so crisp it could be being directed in real time by Ed Harris from the Truman Show.
“This World Cup has been amazing and it feels like a corner has been turned on gender equality,” emails Gavin Killip. “As my 9-year-old neighbour says, it’s not women’s football or men’s football – it’s just football.”
It very much feels like that Gavin. As we shall come onto a little later, hopefully the game’s leaders can capitalise on this generational shift.
The sun hasn’t gone down yet and the atmosphere is already building across Sydney.
Because of all the interest in tonight’s fixture, we’re starting the ball rolling early again on the blog. That means there’s plenty of time for you to send me an email on your thoughts about the semi-final, Australian football, English football, or just the World Cup in general.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Australia v England from Stadium Australia in Sydney. Kick-off in this Women’s World Cup semi-final clash is 8pm AEST/11am BST.
If you’re reading this in Australia: this is fun, isn’t it?
If you’re stopping by from England, you’ll be familiar with the sense of nationwide giddiness after last summer’s Euros.
If you’re tuning in elsewhere in the world, I hope you get to experience a tournament like this in your neck of the woods sometime soon.
The 2023 Women’s World Cup is delivering in spades, and it has turned Australia Matildas mad. There hasn’t been a sporting bandwagon on this scale since Sydney 2000. A group of footballers, most of whom were unknown to the majority of the population a few weeks ago, have become one of the most successful unifying forces of their generation.
And the manner in which they have brought the country together has been beautiful to watch. It has been authentic, unselfconscious, welcoming, and joyous.
This fixture is the perfect case study. Whenever a v separates Australia and England it comes loaded with centuries of baggage. Not tonight. This is not the Ashes or a proxy battlefield on which to settle historic scores. For thousands of kids staying up past bedtime on a school night they will neither know of, nor care about, the almost exclusively male rivalries that contaminate other contests.
This rivalry dates back only to 2015 and consists of just four previous matches, none of which took place with any great consequence. As Mackenzie Arnold told reporters the other day, this is “just another game”.
But what a game it promises to be. The tournament hosts against the European champions in front of a full house at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium. Australia in their first World Cup semi-final, England aiming to make it third time lucky after near misses in 2015 and 2019.
It’s going to be a cracker.