{"id":5152,"date":"2026-02-26T11:53:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T10:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/?p=5152"},"modified":"2026-03-03T12:17:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T11:17:16","slug":"waltzing-matildas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/waltzing-matildas\/","title":{"rendered":"Waltzing Matildas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Waltzing Matildas at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. (Photo: Liondartois. Source: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three years after co-hosting an epic FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup<\/a>, Australia is sole host of the Asian Football Confederation\u2019s AFC Women\u2019s Asian Cup 2026<\/a>.\u00a0 Regional powerhouses Japan, Korea DPR, China PR and Korea Republic will compete with the Matildas and seven other teams for this major trophy.<\/p>\n

This is a key moment for the team that emerged in 2023 as Australia\u2019s most valuable national sport team brand<\/a>, and has attracted big crowds<\/a> when playing in Australia ever since.\u00a0 The importance of the Matildas goes well beyond women\u2019s association football (soccer) to women\u2019s sport in general and to their place in society as a whole.\u00a0 Recent research<\/a>, for example, has demonstrated the deep connection between historical masculinist claims to dominance over women and gender-based violence in sport.<\/p>\n

The Matildas will have to work hard to maintain their elevated position in Australian sport culture and to improve their standing in the world game.\u00a0 FIFA\u2019s current world rankings place them 15th<\/sup>, well behind their highest ever position of 4th<\/sup> in 2017\/8.\u00a0 In Asia, Japan and Korea DPR are above them at, respectively, 8th and 9th in the world.<\/p>\n

It is conventional in Australian sport<\/a> to link an individual\u2019s and team\u2019s success to their popularity, and the Matildas\u2019 form has been patchy to say the least since that bright winter of 2023.\u00a0 Even then it could be coldly recalled, among the widespread exhilaration and record television ratings, that the team lost three of its seven matches, including the third-place playoff<\/a> against Sweden.<\/p>\n

Their much-anticipated participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics failed at the group stage, leading to media and wider Olympic team rumblings<\/a> about excessive \u201cpampering\u201d, and some resentment from better-performed Australian teams in less publicised sports like women\u2019s rugby sevens.\u00a0 The Matildas\u2019 form was also frankly poor in the four-team SheBelieves Cup<\/a> in the USA in early 2025, when they failed to win a match and came last.<\/p>\n

Since then, their playing level has generally improved in a string of friendlies. \u00a0Under new head coach Joe Montemurro, there is some optimism that the Matildas can emulate the 2015 Socceroos\u2019 success under Ange Postecoglou by winning an AFC Asian Cup<\/a> on home soil.\u00a0 The Socceroos are currently 27th<\/sup> in the world, behind Japan (19th<\/sup>), Iran (20th<\/sup>) and Korea Republic (22nd<\/sup>) in Asia.\u00a0 Their next challenge comes soon in June when, before kicking a ball, they must first come to terms with the turbulent atmospherics<\/a> of the 2026 FIFA men\u2019s World Cup hosted by Donald Trump\u2019s United States<\/a>, and its frequent antagonists Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n

The contrasting positions of men\u2019s and women\u2019s football in Australia invites some scrutiny.\u00a0 The Professional Footballers Australia (PFA)\u00a02024\/25 A-League Women Report<\/a>reveals that, despite equal pay and conditions at the national level, the lower strata (especially women\u2019s) of the football pyramid is badly underdeveloped.\u00a0 This is a pattern observable in many other countries, where the elite game (especially men\u2019s) has become progressively detached<\/a> from the clubs that support them.<\/p>\n

It is no surprise, given these problems, that A-League Women (ALW) struggles to appeal to the top Matildas players signed to major European clubs<\/a> like Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Olympique Lyon.\u00a0 In light of the foul, misogynistic online abuse<\/a>that the Matildas and many other sportswomen must endure, they must be tempted sometimes not to take to the pitch at all.<\/p>\n

The Matildas\u2019 performance on the field and reputation off it has, it must be observed, been affected by events surrounding their captain and most celebrated player, Samantha (Sam) Kerr.\u00a0 She has now returned to the team after an extended layoff through injury, and negative global headlines after being tried and acquitted in 2025 of racially aggravated harassment<\/a> of a white, male police officer in London.<\/p>\n

The charge was clearly over-reach<\/a> by the British justice system, but Kerr\u2019s conduct<\/a> on the night in question, concealment of the matter during the 2023 World Cup, Football Australia\u2019s decision not to sanction her, and the all-round refusal to take media questions on the matter, have caused some disquiet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sam Kerr\u2019s tribulations after her brilliant World Cup goal against England in Sydney in 2023, and teammate Cortnee Vine\u2019s<\/a> mental health struggles after her wildly welcomed<\/a>winning penalty earlier against France in Brisbane, demonstrate how quickly fortunes can change in sport.\u00a0 The Matildas will be hoping to return soon to the sublime cultural place<\/a> that was the 2023 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n

They have every incentive to do so.\u00a0 The 2026 AFC Women\u2019s Asian Cup functions as the qualifying mechanism for next year\u2019s FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup in Brazil<\/a>.\u00a0 The Matildas will aim at the very least to be among the six teams to qualify automatically, rather than be forced to go \u2018the long way round\u2019 via the FIFA Play-Off Tournament for the last two places allocated to the AFC.<\/p>\n

An underwhelming performance at home would surely take some of the shine off Australia\u2019s favourite team.\u00a0 But to triumph in style in a tournament they have won only once in 50 years (in China, 2010<\/a>) would, just as certainly, cement the Matildas\u2019 position at the apex of Australian sporting culture.<\/p>\n

First, they will have to escape from Group A, which contains Iran, Korea Republic (21st<\/sup>, whose team almost boycotted<\/a> in protest at inferior conditions), and their first opponent, the Philippines (41st<\/sup>).\u00a0 This not quite the mythical \u2018Group of Death\u2019 that haunts every football tournament of substance.\u00a0 Perhaps, pending successful knockout and finals phases, the nation\u2019s favourite team could even replay the glory of 2023 by having the word \u2018Matilda\u2019 declared the Australian word of the year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Originally published on openforum.com.au<\/a>, February 26, 2026
\n<\/strong><\/span>Copyright \u00a9 David Rowe 2026<\/strong>
\nEmail: d.rowe@westernsydney.edu.au<\/a>
\nTwitter: @rowe_david<\/a>
\nWebsite: https:\/\/www.westernsydney.edu.au\/ics\/people\/emeritus-professors\/david-rowe<\/a><\/p>\n

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Three years after co-hosting an epic FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup, Australia is sole host of the Asian Football Confederation\u2019s AFC Women\u2019s Asian Cup 2026.\u00a0 Regional powerhouses Japan, Korea DPR, China PR and Korea Republic will compete with the Matildas and seven other teams for this major trophy. This is a key moment for the team […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":5153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[212,20,211,173],"class_list":{"0":"post-5152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-okategoriserade","8":"tag-fc-womens-asian-cup-2026","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-waltzing-matildas","11":"tag-womens-football"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/waltzing-matildas.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2JbBl-1l6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5152"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5161,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152\/revisions\/5161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}