Matildas delight in growth, competitiveness of WWC

Anna Harrington | July 24, 2023

Twelve years on from her first Women’s World Cup, Matildas midfielder Tameka Yallop is still getting her head around how huge her fourth one has become.

Yallop debuted in Germany in 2011 and featured at Canada in 2015 and France in 2019.

The World Cup has since expanded to 32 teams and, pleasingly for all concerned, debutants Haiti and Vietnam have so far stood tall against powerhouses England and the United States respectively.

Vietnam’s 3-0 loss to the reigning champions on debut was a far cry from Thailand’s 13-0 defeat to the US four years ago, while Haiti would have felt they deserved a point in their 1-0 defeat to England.

Zambia’s 5-0 loss to Japan on Saturday was the only exception.

“You can see how much more resources have been put (in),” Yallop said. 

“We’ve got 32 teams here. So you can actually see how far spread the support has gotten for the women’s game and that’s a credit to pretty much everyone that was trying to qualify and push other teams to be better. 

“You can really start to see the competitiveness across the board.”

Yallop, a proud Queenslander, relished seeing 44,369 fans pack Suncorp Stadium for Saturday night’s clash between England and Haiti.

“It just shows how big the game is right now. Not just in Europe but around the world,” she said.

“We’ve been watching every game – it’s on a big screen everywhere you look. 

“It’s been exciting. I love watching football and to see women’s football on 24/7 has been great.”

The 32-year-old missed Australia’s opener against Ireland with a corked thigh but has declared herself fit to face Nigeria at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday.

“Stepping out on the field in 2011 I was pretty baby-faced, and now I’m one of the older ones. I’m still adjusting to that,” Yallop said.

“Honestly, I’ve had amazing experiences with this team and I think this is the strongest team that we’ve had so it’s even more exciting.”

Teammate Charli Grant, 21, is attending her first World Cup and is yet to debut.

But the young gun couldn’t help but catch World Cup fever, getting stuck into playing FIFA as the Matildas on Xbox as she battled the combination of illness and jetlag last week.

“I made sure that I got straight into the World Cup,” Grant said.

“We won against Ireland and Nigeria. So hopefully we can do that in real life.”