There are high hopes for co-hosts Australia heading into the Women’s World Cup.
The Matildas are on a hot run of form that has seen them win nine of their past 10 matches, including victories over Spain, England and France.
After some rocky periods in his tenure, it seems that coach Tony Gustavsson has finally got his system to work effectively at the perfect time.
Back in the winners’ circle after a 2-0 victory over England!
▶️ Watch all the highlights and read the match report now!#WeAreMatildas #ENGvAUS
— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) April 11, 2023
On top of that, they have one of the best players in the world in Sam Kerr, who can win games by herself and will be spearheading a charge for glory.
With this in mind, The Sporting News looks at the Matildas chances of winning the tournament, and what their potential path to glory could look like.
MORE: Matildas World Cup 2023 schedule
Australia World Cup odds 2023
While the Matildas are considered as one of the strongest sides at the tournament, they are not considered favourites to win the World Cup despite having home advantage.
Many outlets are rating them as the team with the fifth or sixth best chance to win the tournament, with the likes of France and Germany deemed to have a similar chance of success.
The current favourites to win the tournament are the USA, with bookmakers predicting they will win a record third tournament in a row.
Euro 2022 winners England are close behind despite Australia ending their long unbeaten run in April.
Neds
SkyBet
BetMGM
Dafabet
Australia odds to win World Cup
10.00
12/1
+1100
11.00
Odds correct as of July 14, 2023
Can Australia win the World Cup?
If the Matildas are to win a World Cup, this could be their best chance to do so.
Home-ground advantage, the magnificent Kerr leading the line, strong form heading into the tournament and a settled starting line-up means that the chances of victory feel stronger than they did 12 months ago.
Their group is not a walkover, with the Republic of Ireland and Canada both getting the better of Tony Gustavsson’s side in the past couple of years, but a full strength Matildas side backed by capacity crowds decked in green and gold will be a tough match for any team.
The other side of that equation is greater expectation and pressure to deliver a successful tournament. It remains to be seen how the team deals with this, as the eyeballs on the team within Australia will be more numerous than ever before.
Australia potential knockout opponents
With progressing out of the group a bare minimum expectation, here is a potential path to a World Cup final for the Matildas.
Round of 16: Australia vs. Denmark
Assuming Australia tops their group, they will meet the runners up of Group D — featuring England, Denmark, China and Haiti — in their round of 16 clash at Stadium Australia, Sydney.
With England highly fancied to reach the final, there is a strong chance that Denmark would be the opponents for the Matildas; the sides met at the end of 2022 in a friendly match in Viborg that saw Australia walk away 3-1 winners. A similar result would be expected here.
Quarterfinals: Australia vs. France
The quarterfinals represent the stage where the heavyweight sides begin to meet each other, and in this case there is a strong possibility that Australia would come up against France at Lang Park in Brisbane in a bid to make the semifinals.
This matchup assumes that France will top Group F and defeat the runners up of Group H, which could be South Korea or Colombia. Mary Fowler scored the only goal as the Matildas beat Les Bleues in a pre-World up friendly on July 14.
Semifinals: Australia vs. England
Should Australia navigate that sizeable hurdle, they would return to Sydney in a mammoth semifinal clash against the winners of a quarterfinal matchup that would most likely be England vs. Germany.
While the match would be too close to call, England are the pick to progress from that, giving Australia the unique opportunity to both make a World Cup final and defeat the Euro 2022 champions for the second time in a calendar year.
Final: Australia vs. USA
In what would be arguably the biggest game in Australian football history, the Matildas would then have a World Cup final in their own backyard, where the most likely opponent would be the USA.
It would be an enthralling contest, with Australia looking to win the World Cup for the first time ever coming up against favourites for the tournament USA. They would be slight underdogs in such a clash, backed by 80,000 fans at Stadium Australia, they just may be able to pull it off.
Australia best World Cup finish
There is a strong chance that Australia could achieve their greatest finish at a World Cup, even if they do not reach or win the final.
Their previous best finish came in 2015 when they reached the quarterfinals after defeating Brazil 1-0 in the round of 16.
That win was the first time any Australian side men or women had won a match at the knockout stage of a World Cup. Their journey ended at the next stage against Japan
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