Rise of the Matildas

The 2023 Women's World Cup semi-final gripped Australia in a way that few sporting events have achieved. On any level it was transformative, capturing the highest TV audience since records began. It was hard on the back of the Matildas' nail-biting quarter final, which ended in the longest penalty shootout in World Cup history. To chronicle the Matildas' euphoric World Cup rise, Fiona Crawford draws on interviews with players, administrators, sponsors and fans, skilfully unpicking questions of gender, human rights, race and women's sports. The Rise of the Matildas highlights the astonishing impact of one team's determination to leave the game in a better place.

Fiona Crawford is one of Australia's most respected women's football writers. She is author of The Matilda Effect and co-author of Never Say Die: The Hundred-Year Overnight Success of Australian Women's Football. An adjunct lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology's Centre for Justice, Crawford has written for the Sydney Morning Herald, Vogue, The Guardian, The Conversation, The Big Issue, the Matildas and the W League, FourFourTwo, and the Homeless World Cup. She appears regularly on radio and television.