Australia v Nigeria: Women’s World Cup 2023 Group B – live

Peeking behind the scenes at what the players get up to in their hotels when they’re not training or playing is a staple of major tournaments. Kieran Pender tells the tales of table tennis, toddlers, and TV.

While we enjoy the coverage of Nigeria’s squad singing and dancing their way into the Lang Park changing rooms, there’s still time to catch up with the latest Women’s Football Weekly.

“Soccer fans all over Australia will be rocking if the local darlings get the win tonight,” emails Ezra Finkelstein. “Seeing so much goodwill and support for the Matildas – now all they have to do is perform, score one goal and they can begin preparations for the knockout stages and see how they prevent any more non-game injuries.”

Three points tonight certainly gives Tony Gustavsson room to breathe next week against Canada.

It’s not only Australia that can do selection bombshells. Nigeria’s standout player and Barcelona star Asisat Oshoala is not in the starting XI. There will be a few Matildas defenders breathing sighs of relief at that news. The dangerous Francisca Ordega also drops to the bench, and Deborah Abiodun is suspended. It remains to be seen if this is part of a grand plan, or whether something else is afoot.

Just the one change for the Matildas, with Emily van Egmond somewhat of a surprise replacement for Mary Fowler. The selection of Van Egmond, an experienced ball-playing midfielder, indicates Caitlin Foord will lead the line on her own, with support coming from the width of Hayley Raso and Cortnee Vine.

Tonight will be just the third time in the last five years that one of Sam Kerr or Mary Fowler will not be in the lineup.

Kieran Pender sets the scene from the camp of the discombobulated hosts, who are now without three of the four central attacking options in their squad.

Arsenal’s Caitlin Foord is almost certain to start up front, with Hayley Raso and Cortnee Vine on the wings. But with Fowler missing and no like-for-like replacement, Gustavsson may instead shake up the midfield – opting for either youth in Alex Chidiac or experience in the form of Emily van Egmond. Tameka Yallop could also bring attacking potency, although is unlikely to play a full match as she returns from a thigh injury. If Gustavsson opts for a wider overhaul, Everton’s Clare Wheeler may be brought in to anchor the midfield.

Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Australia v Nigeria from Brisbane Stadium (also known as Lang Park). Kick-off in Match 22 of World Cup 2023 is 8pm AEST / 11am BST.

As Oscar Wilde might have written: to lose one striker may be regarded as a misfortune, but to lose three looks like carelessness. But Australia head into their second clash of their home World Cup without Sam Kerr, Kyah Simon, or Mary Fowler. How they cope with such adversity during 90 minutes of action against Nigeria will reveal plenty about the Matildas’ World Cup ambitions.

“Sometimes you’re unlucky and you need to deal with the cards you are handed,” reflected coach Tony Gustavsson. “We’re ready to play those cards. We have a lot of attacking options still in the roster, but this team has also showed that we’re adaptable.”

Australia will need all that adaptability to break down a Nigeria side that held Olympic gold medallists Canada goalless in their opening match. With the Canadians downing Ireland yesterday, any result other than a Matildas win tonight sets up a tense final round of action.

Nigeria will fancy their chances on the break, with Asisat Oshoala and Francisca Ordega tailor made for hitting a transitional defence at speed. But the Super Falcons have a crucial attacking absentee of their own, with young star Deborah Abiodun suspended after being shown a late red card against Canada.

I’ll be back with team news and insights from the two camps shortly. If you want to get in touch at any point you can always send me an email.