Women’s World Cup: Matildas march to cup infinity – and beyond

You cannot walk 10 paces inside Stadium Australia without seeing the slogan. Beyond Greatness. How big is the Women’s World Cup? Beyond comprehension.

The Matildas at Stadium Australia on Wednesday night on the eve of their opening World Cup match in Sydney.

You cannot walk 10 paces inside Stadium Australia without seeing the slogan. Beyond Greatness. How big is the Women’s World Cup? Beyond comprehension.

The Matildas on Wednesday evening took a first look at the one-time Olympic venue that will host their opening match against Ireland. To be sure, to be sure, the field was immaculate. You could hear a pin drop in there, which won’t be the case when 80,000 fill the joint on Thursday night.

A million tickets have been sold in Australia and New Zealand for the month-long tournament and the global TV audience is forecast to reach two billion. ­Beyond comprehension.

Matildas captain Sam Kerr was beyond relaxed. She stayed near the dugout, chatting away, hands stuffed in her pockets while her teammates ventured onto the playing surface to take photos and stare up at the grandstands with a palpable awe and wonder. Young Mary Fowler skipped around like she had stumbled upon her field of dreams, but Kerr had the air of beyond hysteria.

From Wembley to the King’s coronation, she’s become no stranger to grand occasions.

“Me? Really excited,” Kerr said. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. It’s nice that we’re finally here.

“To come to the stadium and kind of have the realisation we really have brought the Women’s World Cup to Australia is a really proud moment for all of us. We’ve been ready to go all week and we can’t wait to get started.”

Coach Tony Gustavsson added: “We spoke about that, Sam and me, coming up here. It felt a bit unreal that it’s actually happening tomorrow.

“All the prep work we have done for years, all the days of hard work, it’s finally coming together in 24 hours. A good night’s sleep then off we go tomorrow. We can’t wait.”

The ninth edition of the Women’s World Cup is the first with co-hosts. The first to feature 32 teams instead of 24. The first FIFA World Cup in the Oceania region. The first Women’s World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere. Prize money is $161m.

The first time Australia is a red-hot chance of winning the tournament.

We’re about to get the ball rolling. How big is it? Beyond words.