The back line is Steph Catley, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy and Ellie Carpenter.
Kaitlyn Torpey and Katrina Gorry anchor the midfield behind the Arsenal duo of Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross, along with the peripatetic Hayley Raso. The ever-dangerous Mary Fowler is up front.
Even without Sam Kerr, the Australian lineup boasts seven players in The Guardian’s global top 100 – Foord (32), Fowler (56), Carpenter (58), Catley (60), Arnold (77), Raso (87), Cooney-Cross (89).
Arnold (Portland) and Torpey (San Diego) play in the USA, as do substitutes Emily van Egmond (San Diego) and Cortnee Vine (North Carolina).
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) July 31, 2024
The change is Emily Sonnett replacing Tierna Davidson in central defense alongside Naomi Girma, though don’t be surprised if Sonnett, who has done some time in midfield, plays a bit further up.
Another versatile player, Crystal Dunn, is at left back but will be expected to contribute offensively. Emily Fox is on the right.
Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan and Sam Coffey will play amorphous roles in midfield. Lavelle, on her day, is one of the most astute playmakers the USA have ever had – typically, the USA don’t have a traditional No. 10, but she can fit the bill.
Mallory Swanson has the central role up front between Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman.
Welcome to the group-stage finale in women’s soccer, a rekindling of the multihemispherical rivalry between the USA and Australia, and a matchup between two teams coming into this game on a massive high.
The US women played one of their best games in recent memory last time out, beating a talented and tough German team 4-1. Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman are breaking through as one of the most potent attacking trios the USA have ever had. Naomi Girma has quickly become one of the world’s top center backs. Rose Lavelle and Lindsey Horan have been inconsistent, but at their best, they’re tough to contain.
Australia’s hopes were all but gone 56 minutes into their game against Zambia, a team boasting the two most expensive players in women’s soccer. Racheal Kundananji’s second goal, added to Barbra Banda’s customary hat trick, gave the African side a 5-2 lead. An own goal brought Australia back into it. Steph Catley, an ever-reliable player not known for her goal-scoring exploits, scored a brace to tie it. Then Michelle Heyman, who came out of international retirement when the world-class striker Sam Kerr went out injured, netted the winner.
Get the popcorn. If you’re in Australia, get the caffeine. Let’s watch what could be a gem of a game.
Beau will be here shortly, but here’s how the Matildas kept their hopes alive with a wild win in their last game:
The greatest escape? In the history of international football, there have been comebacks. There have been thrillers. And then there was whatever the hell played out between Zambia and Australia in Nice on Sunday night.
The Matildas recovered from a three-goal deficit, a hat-trick from Zambian sensation Barbra Banda and a brace from the most expensive signing in women’s football Racheal Kundananji, to somehow emerge victorious. If the Matildas needed a heart attack to restart their Olympic campaign, they got one – and the three points that might just keep them at Paris 2024 beyond the group stage.
Perhaps never before has such an exciting game of Olympic football been enjoyed first-hand by so few. Only several thousand spectators had made the trek to the Stade de Nice, on the outskirts of the Mediterranean city. But they were treated to something spectacular and surreal, a see-sawing clash of attacking brilliance and defensive frailty of the kind rarely witnessed at this rarefied international level.
Already the obituaries were being written for the Matildas’ Olympic campaign. Already fans back home were sharpening their knives. Like the Marie Antoinette character in Friday’s opening ceremony, Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson’s head was firmly on the chopping block. Until suddenly it wasn’t.
1-0 Zambia. 1-1 Australia. 2-1 Zambia. 3-1 Zambia. 3-2 Australia. 4-2 Zambia. 5-2 Zambia. 5-3 Australia. 5-4 Australia. 5-5 Australia, through a VAR-awarded penalty, coolly slotted home by captain Steph Catley.
And then, at the death, super-sub Michelle Heyman found herself through on goal.