They came in the thousands, armed with picnic blankets, umbrellas and deck chairs and adorned in green and gold.
Hours before the Matildas took to the pitch they were already gathering, a sea of supporters packed into Sydney’s biggest live site at Darling Harbour.
Beth Rolfe made it with her eight-month-old baby, Delilah.
“This is huge, it’s so exciting,” she said. “To be part of it, something this big … it’s once in a lifetime, really.”
Beth has brought her eight month old bubba Delilah to the Sydney live site tonight. She can’t wait for her daughter to grow up in a world where women’s sport is just sport. “It’s only going to get better,” she says. @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/veUH1L2A3o
— Caitlin Cassidy (@caitecassidy) August 7, 2023
When Caitlin Foord scored an epic goal through the legs of Denmark’s goalkeeper after 33 minutes, the crowd erupted into screams. A young boy jumped from his deck chair, fist bumping the air.
Children in dressing gowns hugged their parents.
By the time Hayley Raso put Australia two up in the second half, grown men were embracing too.
LESSSSSSGOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/noJNDw5zij
— Caitlin Cassidy (@caitecassidy) August 7, 2023
The mood was different at a jam-packed Sydney pub, where about 30 hopeful Danes had gathered in eager anticipation to soak up the glory of a Denmark victory on Australian soil.
Asked who would win at the beginning of the game, Laura, clad in the red Denmark jersey, was resolute: “Denmark, of course!”
But that optimism gave way to resignation after Raso struck.
“I did think we were playing better than Australia,” said Mikkel Mathiassen, who arrived in Australia from Denmark to study a week ago. “The first shot was lucky, but now I’m nervous.”
Then came Sam Kerr, on as a substitute to soft boos from the crowd of Danes. At Darling Harbour, rounds of applause erupted.
“When I heard she was [playing], I cried,” one girl told her friend.
The action had begun hours earlier in Sydney, as the official Matildas cheer squad filled the usually sleepy rooftop of the Aurora Hotel in Surry Hills, where their impassioned chants and the banging of drums floated towards the CBD.
Supporters were still on a high after the crucial 4-0 win against Canada to top the table in the group stage.
Some of the diehard fans carried injuries, others had already flown back and forth to New Zealand twice to witness the first World Cup on home soil. Nothing would stop them now. It had all led to this.
Philomena, also known as Phil, has been following the Matildas since she was a young girl. “My lord,” she said over a pint at the pub. “Let’s just say all my life.”
Experiencing the tournament on home turf, though, had been entirely different.
“I’ve lost my voice but the vibe is amazing,” she said, wearing lime-green sunglasses that read “go” on one lens and “tillies” on the other. “Bring it on, baby,” she cried.
Chris and Stuart have been following the Matildas since they attended the World Cup in France in 2019. Every match since, they’ve brought their trusty mascots – Cocky, a cockatoo hand puppet, and Mathilde, an inflatable kangaroo – who has been inflated and deflated more times than he can count.
“I have never seen any violence between supporters,” Chris said before the cheer-squad marched to the game.
“It’s just a great love and feeling amongst all of us.”
For Fatima Flores, the dream almost died before it began, after premature celebrations of a disallowed goal from Mary Fowler early in the Canada game led to her leg being trapped between a seat.
“I’ve got big calves, like Sam Kerr,” she told security several times, as she was wheeled promptly to first aid.
Luckily, a friend got an iPhone up for her to watch the game as she was treated, and she was wheeled back to a corner seat by the time goal number three went in.
“They were trying to get me to get a scan and I said, ‘I’m fine, I’m not going anywhere – I need to see the rest of this game’,” she said.
“I just sat with my leg up … if that’s what I have to do to get the Matildas to win, that’s what I’ll do.”
As the final whistle sounded around 10.30pm on Monday, the Danes left disappointed, but glad of the chance to soak up the atmosphere.
“Should I take off this jersey now, is it embarrassing?” joked Jonathan Andreasen, who recently moved to Australia from Denmark to study. “I got some bad flashbacks to the [Men’s] World Cup … Australia also beat us.”
But it was different for the elated fans at Darling Harbour, who broke into cheers and “olés”.
For Rolfe, this signified something more.
“It’s only going to get better,” she said. “To see how far women’s sport has come … this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
