Matildas semi-final fever scores another TV viewing record

The dream of winning the World Cup may have come to an end, but Australia’s love affair with the Matildas reached new heights on Wednesday night as the semi-final clash with England drew a record average audience of 7.13 million viewers nationally on Seven and its streaming service 7plus.

That number does not include those who watched on Optus Sport or in the many public venues around the country that hosted mass viewing events.

Captured our hearts: The Matildas huddle after the team’s Women’s World Cup semi-final defeat.Credit: Getty Images

In the five metro capital cities, the game, which England won 3-1, was watched by an average audience of 4.495 million. In the regional markets another 1.67 million tuned in, while on 7plus the audience of 957,000 set a new record for the most streamed event in Australia.

It is the biggest average audience recorded since OzTam was launched in 2001.

Overall, the game delivered Seven a massive 89.8 per cent share of the commercial broadcast audience, that share rising to 96.1 per cent of people aged 16-39.

It was the second time in a week that a women’s soccer match featuring the Australian national team became the highest-rating TV program of 2023.

The highest number of viewers was in Sydney at 1.418 million. Melbourne recorded 1.379 million people watching and Brisbane 767,000.

The pre-and post-game offerings also proved popular, attracting a five-city metro audience of 1.853 and 1.786 million, respectively.

The figure eclipses the record set last week when The Matildas’ penalty shootout win over France was viewed by a national total TV audience of 4.904 million Australians, according to OzTAM’s new measurement system.

Australia’s Sam Kerr scores her side’s opening goal during the Women’s World Cup semi-final against England at Stadium Australia in Sydney.Credit: AP

Following that win, public support for the team went into overdrive, leading to a week of Matildas fever in the lead-up to the match against England.

And the spectacle didn’t disappoint, with more than 75,000 fans packing into a sold-out Stadium Australia to witness Australia play its first-ever World Cup semi-final. However, it didn’t take long for England to crash the party, with Ella Toone scoring after 36 minutes to give the Lionesses the lead.

At half-time, the stage was set for a Hollywood ending and, for a moment at least, you couldn’t have scripted it better. Cometh the hour mark, cometh the woman; all hail Sam Kerr.

In the 63rd minute, Australia’s most talented footballer picked up the ball on her own halfway line, ran 50 metres, beat three defenders and launched the ball 20 metres over the head of England goalkeeper Mary Earps and into our hearts forever.

Sadly, the comeback was shortlived, with the Matildas conceding two late goals to go down 3-1, with England progressing to the World Cup final against Spain on Sunday.

Unsurprisingly, the Matildas’ loss to England is the highest-rating game of the World Cup so far, and given the emotional investment in our national team, it seems unlikely Sunday’s final will beat last night’s figures.

Before the match, Kerr spoke about conjuring her “Cathy Freeman moment”, and few would argue that her incredible solo effort didn’t live up to the expectations.

Freeman’s iconic run in the 400m final at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 is reported to have attracted 8.8 million television viewers, making it the most-watched Australian sporting event (data was not tracked at the time by OzTAM).

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