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Kia ora and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the second semi-final of the 2023 Women's Football World Cup between Australia and England in Sydney.
International sports rivalries don't come much fiercer than the Aussies against the English and this match-up seems certain to deliver on the occasion.
Both sides are vying for the right to face Spain in Sunday's final, after their dramatic victory over Sweden in Tuesday's first semi-final in Auckland.
As the reigning European champions, England will enter the game favoured to advance.
But with both a raucous home crowd behind them and the precocious game-breaking abilities of the world's best player in Sam Kerr, nobody will be surprised if the Matildas emerge victorious to setup a fairytale final on home soil.
We'll have all of the action from 10pm.
TAB betting odds: Australia - $2.03 England - $1.68
Squads:
Australia:
Goalkeepers: Mackenzie Arnold, Teagan Micah, Lydia Williams
Defenders: Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley, Charlotte Grant, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy,, Aivi Luik, Courtney Nevin, Clare Polkinghorne
Midfielders: Alex Chidiac, Katrina Gorry, Emily van Egmond, Clare Wheeler, Tameka Yallop
Forwards: Kyra Cooney-Cross, Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler, Sam Kerr, Hayley Raso, Kyah Simon, Cortnee Vine
England:
Goalkeepers: Mary Earps, Hannah Hampton, Ellie Roebuck
Defenders: Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Niamh Charles, Alex Greenwood, Esme Morgan, Lotte Wubben-Moy
Midfielders: Laura Coombs, Jordan Nobbs, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Keira Walsh, Katie Zelem
Forwards: Rachel Daly, Bethany England, Lauren Hemp, Lauren James, Chloe Kelly, Katie Robinson, Alessio Russo
Australia banking on home support to inspire semi-final win over England
Australia coach Tony Gustavsson is expecting a close match against England in the Women's World Cup semi-finals and is banking on the home crowd to lift the Matildas in the biggest game of their lives.
While fourth-ranked England were semi-finalists at the last two World Cups, and won the European Championship on home soil last year, 10th-ranked Australia have never previously been past the quarter-finals at a major global tournament.
"If you look at rankings they're favourites, if you look at where their players play, they have starting players in top clubs in top leagues all over the world," Gustavsson said.
"Not just the starting 11, down to 15, 16. We have bench players in those teams. We have players playing in mid-table teams in Sweden.
"So if you look at all that and you look at resources, financially, obviously they are massive favourites going into this game.
"But the one thing that we have that they don't have is the support and belief from the fans. That in itself is going to be massive tomorrow."
Another sellout crowd of around the 75,000 mark is expected at Stadium Australia for Wednesday's match and most will be backing the home team.
Gustavsson said his top striker Sam Kerr was fit to play but he was not certain that she would start as her workload was still being managed because of the calf injury that ruled her out of Australia's first three matches.
"There'll be a meeting tonight again to see the best starting 11, the best finishing 11 and whether we plan for 90 minutes or plan for an extra time," he said.
"There'll be some tough decisions again tonight but Sam is definitely available for selection."
The Matildas may have no experience of matches at the business end of a major global tournament but Gustavsson was an assistant coach for the US teams that won the last two World Cups in 2015 and 2019.
Reuters.
