Key Points
- Australia has made it through to the Women's World Cup quarterfinals.
- They defeated Denmark 2-0 on Monday night.
- They are now set to play France on Saturday, 12 August.
The Matildas are daring to dream of making a run at a maiden as big names crash out and the tournament opens up.
at Stadium Australia to advance to the Quarterfinals.
World Number 1, the United States, was knocked out by Sweden on Sunday night in a historic penalty shootout.
The team had been hoping to win the tournament for the third time in a row.
World Number 2 and double champions Germany on Thursday night became a shocking group-stage casualty, joining Olympic champions Canada and mainstays Brazil in suffering an early elimination.
These are the teams the Matildas may face if they keep going forward.
Who will the Matildas play in the Women's World Cup?
After defeating Denmark, Australia will next face France, who defeated Morocco 4-0 on Tuesday night to advance to the Quarterfinals.
If they lose, they will be eliminated from the tournament.
Should they win and progress to the Semifinals, they would be up against either England or Colombia.
The Final would have the winner of the same fixtures on the other side of the draw, which at this stage could be Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, or Sweden.
This is only the second time in six attempts that Australia has progressed from a FIFA Women's World Cup knockout stage, having previously eliminated Brazil at the Round of 16 stage in 2015.
After defeating Denmark on Monday, the Matildas will face France on Saturday. Source: SBS News
When is the Matildas' next game?
The Matildas' next game is Saturday, 12 August at Brisbane Stadium.
Kickoff is 5pm AEST, or 4.30pm in South Australia and the Northern Territory, and 3pm in Western Australia.
Ahead of their Quarterfinal date with France, the Matildas believe they can adjust accordingly - and handle the ever-growing weight of expectation.
"I don't think we really feel the pressure," star attacker Caitlin Foord told reporters.
"We're just enjoying our performances and building on that.
"We want to keep building and keep coming out better, we've set the bar now to what our performance is and what the bare minimum is.
"We know we have to keep taking it to another level if we want to go all the way."
But Australia won't look beyond Saturday's Quarterfinal and towards their dream of holding up the World Cup just yet.
"That's obviously the dream. Yeah, I mean, everyone's here to do that, right?" Kerr said.
"But we've said from the start, even before the tournament, we're taking this one game at a time and we're not going to look too far ahead because that's when you slip."
