Matildas now the hottest ticket in Australian sport

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC: Australia's Sam Kerr celebrates after scoring. Pic: PA

Sam Kerr’s Matildas will have more than 80,000 fans in the stadium and much of Australia watching when they get their Women’s World Cup campaign started against Ireland, making it the hottest sports ticket Down Under at a time usually dominated by men playing rugby league or Aussie rules.

It’s a phenomenal difference from just over two decades ago, when a group of Matildas players agreed to pose nude for a calendar leading into the 2000 Sydney Olympics in a bid to raise much-needed money and awareness for the women’s national soccer team.