Matildas' magical World Cup run captures Australia's hearts

Cathy Freeman's Sydney Olympics gold medal, Cadel Evans' Tour de France triumph and John Aloisi sealing the Socceroos' 2006 World Cup berth all conjure similar feelings.

But these and another dozen iconic Australian sporting highlights were all trumped in Brisbane on Saturday night as the Matildas captured the hearts of a nation with their inspiring penalty shootout win over France.

When Vine scored the 20th penalty - making it the longest shootout in women's or men's World Cup history - celebrations erupted across Australia.

Now only England's Lionesses stand in the Matildas' way of the Women's World Cup final on August 20 in Sydney, where they can add more chapters to an already historic run at the FIFA tournament.

The beauty of this narrative, though, is how Matildas fever has swept every corner of the country. Young and old, sports-mad fans and bandwagoners, everyone is all pulling for the green and gold like never before.

Channel 7 and Football Australia confirmed an incredible broadcast reach of 7.2 million for the Matildas' quarter-final.

It was shown on the main channel and with a kick-off time of 5pm, executives made the extraordinary decision to have the usually-cemented nightly news bulletin air immediately after the match instead.

Ratings agency OzTAM revealed an estimated average national audience of 4.23 million, and an additional 472,000 streamed the match on the 7Plus app.

No data was tracked back when Freeman won Olympic gold in 2000, but in a time before social media it's estimated 8.8 million tuned in, making the Matildas' win against France the second-most watched TV sport program since. No NRL or AFL grand final, nor the 2003 Rugby World Cup final, and not even Ash Barty's 2022 Australian Open crown rivalled the Matildas' broadcast reach.

In the streaming era, Women's World Cup subscription broadcaster, Optus Sport, also confirmed the tournament has delivered the biggest-ever month for viewership, in addition to more than 42 million social media video views in Australia so far.

Every living room and live site, pub and club, even whole stadiums and aeroplanes mid-air above Australia were captivated by Mackenzie Arnold's clutch saves and Vine's match-winner.

The Matildas' official social media accounts put out a request for reaction videos and the resulting threads only elicited one emotion: pure joy.

Few things have the potential to stop and unite people like sport, but the Matildas delivered.

"Proud," read Anthony Albanese's tweet from Brisbane, as Australia went one step closer to a new public holiday promised by the Prime Minister should they win the cup.

Could it be any more perfect? One of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in sport, Australia versus England, is set to ignite the Women's World Cup semi-final on Wednesday night in Sydney.

There'll be many English-Australians torn on which team to cheer on, and Piers Morgan is likely to tweet something daft, but it's all so tantalising, isn't it?

The Lionesses were crowned European champions last year which made them one of the Women's World Cup favourites.

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However, the Matildas may have the mental edge having defeated England 2-0 in an April friendly on their own turf that ended the Lionesses' 30-game unbeaten run.

On the other side of the draw, should the Matildas beat England, Sweden or Spain will be up next in the decider, with the other semi-final taking place at Eden Park on Tuesday.

Long-time women's soccer fans know the turbulent road to get to this point of nationwide adoration for the Matildas, but it's exciting to think of this tournament's impact.

The last time the Matildas made the quarter-finals in 2015, each player received only $750. Since then the Matildas have secured a collective bargaining agreement which gives them the same revenue share and salary as the Socceroos, and players get 50 per cent of prize money by progressing to the knockout stage of a World Cup.

That last point is on top of the individual prize money FIFA is awarding each player at the Women's World Cup for the first time. Fourth-place will be $247,000 and it goes up to $405,000 each to the champions. If the Matildas win the final, an additional $6.4 million will go to Football Australia.

The pay gap is still present between the men's and women's game, but it is closing fast.

Australia v England, Wednesday, 8pm (AEST), Stadium Australia.

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