The groups are locked in, the fixtures are confirmed, and excitement is rife across host nations Australia and New Zealand ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Australia will host Spain, Czech Republic and Jamaica in the ‘Cup of Nations’ Down Under next month.
Read: Matildas to prepare for World Cup with Cup of Nations tournament
But which players will fly the flag for Australia at the World Cup? Thanks to Isuzu UTE, KEEPUP tracks the progress of players both at home and overseas vying for a place in the Matildas head coach Tony Gustavson’s World Cup squad in Isuzu UTE Matildas World Cup Watch.
These are the key movements since KEEPUP’s last edition of Isuzu UTE Matildas World Cup Watch:
Stock rising
- Kyra Cooney-Cross: Inside running -> tickets booked
- Cortnee Vine: Inside running -> tickets booked
- Matilda McNamara: Contenders -> inside running
Stock falling
- Emily Gielnik: Tickets booked -> inside running
TICKETS BOOKED
The tried and tested. These are the players shaping as World Cup certainties at the turn of the new year.
Mackenzie Arnold
- Current club: West Ham (England)
- Total caps: 29
Mackenzie Arnold might be pressured down the line to keep her spot in the goalkeeper’s union by a motivated Jada Whyman doing the business in the Liberty A-League; for now, starting and excelling for West Ham United in the Women’s Super League is keeping Arnold firmly planted in Gustavsson’s plans.
Arnold missed the last Matildas camp through injury, and was replaced by Whyman in the squad for November friendlies against Sweden and Thailand.
Steph Catley
- Current club: Arsenal (England)
- Total caps: 106
A player you can bank on to make the World Cup squad if fit. Vice-captain, set-piece dynamo and provides experience to a back four which looks void of it when Catley isn’t there.
Kyra Cooney-Cross
- Current club: Hammarby IF (Sweden)
- Total caps: 22
Kyra Cooney-Cross has enjoyed a breakout season at Hammarby since making her first appearance in June after an injury-interrupted start to the season. The 20-year-old impressed in consecutive starts against South Africa and Denmark in Australia before sparkling against both Sweden and Thailand in November – it’s a string of impressive performances which may have cemented Cooney-Cross into Gustavsson’s plans.
Caitlin Foord
- Current club: Arsenal (England)
- Total caps: 106
A switch to a 4-4-2 formation has unleashed Caitlin Foord’s full potential in a green and gold kit of late. The Arsenal forward scored a brace in Australia’s stunning 4-0 win over Sweden in November – including the strike awarded Matildas Goal of the Year as 2022 came to an end. Playing alongside Sam Kerr is helping Foord produce her best for the national team.
Mary Fowler
- Current club: Manchester City (England)
- Total caps: 32
A genuine star at just 19 years of age, Manchester City’s Mary Fowler is set to play a key role in the Matildas’ World Cup campaign. Fowler will continue to build toward the tournament in her maiden Women’ Super League campaign at City. Kyra Cooney-Cross made two starts in November alongside Katrina Gorry in central midfield; it’s a role which could be suited to Fowler if the formation and approach from Gustavsson remains the same.
Katrina Gorry
- Current club: Brisbane Roar (Australia)
- Total caps: 88
Returning to the international fray after giving birth to first child Harper, Katrina Gorry has set about making the deepest-lying position in the Matildas’ midfield her own. A long-range screamer against Denmark was reward for effort for Gorry who often threatens from distance, and with plenty of competition in central midfield continued to start for Gustavsson in the November friendlies. Right now, it’s Gorry’s position to lose.
Charlotte Grant
- Current club: Vittsjö GIK (Sweden)
- Total caps: 13
Coming into her own as a genuine star in the absence of injured Matildas right-back Ellie Carpenter. Grant has grasped the opportunity with both hands and will make the World Cup squad whether Carpenter returns to fitness or not.
Alanna Kennedy
- Current club: Manchester City (England)
- Total caps: 108
Alanna Kennedy is closing in on a return to action with Manchester City after fracturing a bone in her shoulder. When fit, Kennedy starts alongside Clare Polkinghorne in a back four for the Matildas, and should remain a mainstay in the starting XI when fully fit heading toward the World Cup.
Kennedy missed the November friendlies but returned to City’s bench in December as an unused substitute; expect her minutes to grow incrementally through the new year.
Sam Kerr
- Current club: Chelsea (England)
- Total caps: 116
Australia’s record goalscorer and captain, who finished third in the 2022 Ballon d’Or after sweeping both team and individual accolades at Chelsea. A lock for the final squad, barring injury.
Chloe Logarzo
- Current club: Western United (Australia)
- Total caps: 55
Chloe Logarzo made her triumphant return to Matildas action in October after an extended lay-off due to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury suffered late 2021. The energetic midfielder since signed with Liberty A-League expansion club Western United in a bid to clock up regular minutes and to build match fitness.
Logarzo has made five appearances for Western this season, scoring a brace against Melbourne City on Saturday, December 17 in a roaring return to the headlines, and backing up that performance with a goal in a comeback 3-2 win over Perth Glory on New Year’s Day.
Aivi Luik
- Current club: BK Häcken (Sweden)
- Total caps: 41
Aivi Luik has shown her versatility in recent camps, slotting in at central defence in the absence of injured Kennedy. Gustavsson has labelled both Luik and Courtney Nevin as central defensive reinforcements should either Kennedy or Polkinghorne be unavailable.
Teagan Micah
- Current club: FC Rosengård (Sweden)
- Total caps: 14
A key cog in FC Rosengård’s back-to-back domestic titles, Teagan Micah is racking up European experience and has found a happy home in Gustavsson’s goalkeeping union, competing with Mackenzie Arnold and Lydia Williams to be Australia’s No.1.
Recent appearances would suggest Micah is ready to remain at the front of the Matildas’ goalkeeping queue, having been preferred over Lydia Williams by Gustavsson for games against Denmark, South Africa, Sweden and Thailand.
Courtney Nevin
- Current club: Hammarby IF (Sweden)
- Total caps: 18
Courtney Nevin has become a mainstay in the Matildas squad, and like Luik has become an important part of Gustavsson’s plans due to her ability to play both at full-back and in central defence.
Clare Polkinghorne
- Current club: Vittsjö GIK (Sweden)
- Total caps: 151
You can bank on a healthy Clare Polkinghorne featuring in Gustavsson’s World Cup squad. The vastly-experienced central defender became just the third Matilda to reach the 150-cap mark against Sweden in November, before drawing level with Cheryl Salisbury on 151 caps with an appearance against Thailand. Polkinghorne and Salisbury now share top spot as the most capped Australian footballers of all time.
Hayley Raso
- Current club: Manchester City (England)
- Total caps: 66
Hayley Raso scored a well-earned goal against Thailand operating down the left wing in a new-look Matildas system. The Manchester City flyer will contend the likes of Cortnee Vine, Fowler, Cooney-Cross, Tameka Yallop and Emily Gielnik for minutes in wide areas leading up to the World Cup – but appears to be the front-runner for a starting berth.
Emily van Egmond
- Current club: San Diego Wave (United States)
- Total caps: 124
Van Egmond is facing stiff competition for a starting role in midfield in the form of Elise Kellond-Knight, Wheeler, Gorry, Cooney-Cross, Fowler, Logarzo and Chidiac – but with 124 games of experience with the national team, van Egmond all-but picks herself for the final World Cup squad.
Van Egmond, like Cooney-Cross and Fowler, will make an aggressive push to make that spot alongside Gorry her own, playing more advanced than the deep-lying Gorry. Higher up the field is where van Egmond can show the best of her abilities.
Clare Wheeler
- Current club: Everton FC (England)
- Total caps: 11
A Women’s Super League debut for Everton in October was an exciting step forward in the career of Clare Wheeler. Katrina Gorry appears the solution in number six for Gustavsson – but Wheeler presses her case to start in midfield at every opportunity.
Wheeler made three WSL appearances for the Toffees before an injury which has kept her sidelined in December; Wheeler was an unused substitute in a 3-0 win over Tottenham on December 15.
Lydia Williams
- Current club: Paris Saint-Germain (France)
- Total caps: 102
Williams has played just one league fixture since departing WSL club Arsenal for Paris Saint-Germain in July of 2022. Decorated Olympique Lyonnais goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi then joined Williams at the club in September, and has since taken on the role of No.1 in Gérard Prêcheur’s side.
It’s been a similar scenario at national team level for Williams, who has sat behind Micah in the pecking order of the Matildas’ goalkeeping union for consecutive games against South Africa, Denmark, Sweden and Thailand.
Tameka Yallop
- Current club: Brann (Norway)
- Total caps: 109
Tameka Yallop is eager to make up for lost time after missing the past two Matildas camps through an ankle injury sustained in training for Norwegian club Brann in September of 2022.
The versatile wide player had surgery for the syndesmosis injury, and had a tightrope placed between the fibula and fibula to give her ankle extra support. Speaking prior to the new year, Yallop revealed the intention to begin running once again by Christmas, targeting a return to play in early 2023.
Expect Yallop’s versatility – and the experience of more than 100 Matildas caps – to put her in a very strong position to seal a spot at the World Cup once back in the swing of regular game time.
INSIDE RUNNING
The players in and around the squad with a genuine opportunity to break through and cement a spot at the World Cup.
Alex Chidiac
- Current club: Melbourne Victory (Australia) on loan from Racing Louisville
- Total caps: 22
Alex Chidiac returned for another season at Melbourne Victory after winning the Victory Medal for an outstanding campaign in 2021-22. Chidiac is a popular figure amongst Matildas fans – who often call to see more of a player who brings something different to the midfield three. Chidiac made two substitute appearances against South Africa and Denmark in October, and made a half-hour cameo against Thailand in November.
Larissa Crummer
- Current club: Brisbane Roar (Australia)
- Total caps: 30
Crummer is back amongst the Matildas conversation after four years away from the international frame, caused by a potential career-ending injury in 2019. Crummer had made 23 appearances in green and gold prior to breaking her tibia and fibula in her left leg in 2019, but since returning to the game via Brisbane Roar and the Liberty A-League has pushed to become a regular in the squad once more. Crummer has scored two gaols in seven appearances for Brisbane Roar in 2022-23.
Emily Gielnik
- Current club: Aston Villa (England)
- Total caps: 57
Emily Gielnik has struggled for minutes at Aston Villa since suffering a calf injury on international duty in October, making just two substitute appearances this season so far on the road back.
It’s been a lean spell for Gielnik on the international scene, too – her last goal in green and gold came in a 4-3 loss to United States at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Two goals in a 5-2 loss to Germany in October of 2021 makes it three goals in 24 games for the Matildas forward.
Gielnik drops from “tickets booked” in KEEPUP’s last edition of Isuzu UTE Matildas World Cup Watch, to “inside running” at the start of 2023.
Princess Ibini
- Current club: Sydney FC (Australia)
- Total caps: 8
Princess Ibini scored her very first Matildas goal in a 1-1 draw against Portugal in June – and got a call-up to the squad for September’s Canada friendlies as a result.
Ibini has made six appearances for Sydney FC in the 2022-23 Liberty A-League season, scoring one goal an assisting three. The Sky Blues are hitting form at the turn of the year, and if Ibini continues to contribute there’s no reason why she can’t push from the fringes into the Matildas squad as a regular.
Elise Kellond-Knight
- Current club: Hammarby IF (Sweden)
- Total caps: 114
Elise Kellond-Knight put two-and-a-half years of injury struggles in the rear-view mirror in November with a brief cameo for the Matildas against Thailand, earning her 114th cap on a long-awaited return to the international scene.
Kellond-Knight suffered an ACL injury in July, 2020, and only made her return to competitive action in mid-August, making her first competitive start in 769 days for Swedish side Hammarby IF.
The 32-year-old midfielder’s Matildas comeback is a timely one, with her return to the Liberty A-League with Melbourne Victory helping the injury-plagued veteran clock up regular minutes and consistent starts in a push to feature at the World Cup.
Matilda McNamara
- Current club: AGF (Denmark)
- Total caps: 1
Matildas head coach Tony Gustavsson gave Matilda McNamara her national team debut in the dying embers of a 2-0 win over Thailand in November. It was an inconsequential substitution at the time, which went under the radar after Kellond-Knight’s emotional return off the bench just minutes prior – but under further consideration, it could be an important signal of Gustvasson’s intent to bring McNamara into the mix moving forward as cover in central defence.
Amy Sayer
- Current club: Stanford University (United States)
- Total caps: 6
Like Ibini, Amy Sayer has returned to the international fray of late, with the Stanford Cardinal receiving an unexpected call-up to the Matildas camp against Portugal and Spain in June.
Sayer then stole the show as part of Australia’s representative team at the AFF Women’s Championship in July, scoring all four goals in a convincing win over Indonesia. Sayer was back in the senior 24-player squad for November friendlies on home soil, but did not add to her six caps against either Sweden or Thailand.
Remy Siemsen
- Current club: European move announced (club TBC)
- Total caps: 6
Remy Siemsen was called into the Australia camp for October friendlies as an injury replacement player. It was her first time back in the Matildas ranks since the June window; Siemsen returned to Sydney FC for the 2022-23 A-League Women campaign, but departed the club prior to the new year, with the Sky Blues announcing they had agreed a club-record fee for Siemsen to join a club in one of Europe’s top professional leagues.
Her final destination is yet to be confirmed.
Cortnee Vine
- Current club: Sydney FC (Australia)
- Total caps: 11
Cortnee Vine has exploded onto the international scene – and at the start of 2023, it appears a starting role at right wing is the Sydney FC winger’s to lose.
Vine bagged her first two goals in green and gold against South Africa in October, bringing something different to the Matildas attack with frightening speed and direct play in wide areas.
Gustavsson’s switch to a 4-4-2 has seen Vine utilise with regularity on the right wing, in front of right-back Charlotte Grant, and dovetailing with Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord making up the front two.
Jada Whyman
- Current club: Sydney FC (Australia)
- Total caps: Uncapped
Jada Whyman is still uncapped at senior level for Australia, but an injury to Mackenzie Arnold brought the Sydney FC keeper into the squad for the friendly series in November.
At this point in time, Whyman is one of four keepers competing for three spots in the Matildas goalkeeping ranks, a position which keeps the 23-year-old in the mix for a spot in the World Cup squad should injuries take their toll. Regardless of the final make-up of the 2023 World Cup squad, the future looks very bright for the young Sky Blues keeper; this won’t be the last time Whyman pushes for a World Cup spot with the Matildas.
Whyman missed Sydney’s A-League Women clash with Brisbane Roar on New Year’s Eve with a fractured finger; it’s unclear at this stage how long the injury will sideline the Sky Blues keeper.
CONTENDERS
Gustavsson concedes the window of opportunity is closing for players on the outskirts of his plans – but injuries and form could play their part between now and the World Cup. These are the players who could make a late run at a spot in the squad.
Liberty A-League
Angela Beard
- Current club: Western United (Australia)
- Total caps: 3
Emma Checker
- Current club: Melbourne City (Australia)
- Total caps: 7
Emily Condon
- Current club: Adelaide United (Australia)
- Total caps: 1
Casey Dumont
- Current club: Melbourne Victory (Australia)
- Total caps: 3
Kirsty Fenton
- Current club: Sydney FC (Australia)
- Total caps: Uncapped
Daniela Galic
- Current club: Melbourne City (Australia)
- Total caps: Uncapped
Beattie Goad
- Current club: Melbourne Victory (Australia)
- Total caps: 3
Amy Harrison
- Current club: Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia)
- Total caps: 13
Bryleeh Henry
- Current club: Melbourne City (Australia)
- Total caps: 1
Michelle Heyman
- Current club: Canberra United (Australia)
- Total caps: 61
Dylan Holmes
- Current club: Adelaide United (Australia)
- Total caps: 1
Clare Hunt
- Current club: Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia)
- Total caps: Uncapped
Sarah Hunter
- Current club: Sydney FC (Australia)
- Total caps: Uncapped
Sally James (GK)
- Current club: Melbourne City (Australia)
- Total caps: Uncapped
Rachel Lowe
- Current club: Sydney FC (Australia)
- Total caps: 1
Grace Maher
- Current club: Canberra United (Australia)
Total caps: Uncapped
Ella Mastrantonio
- Current club: Perth Glory (Australia)
- Total caps: 7
Jenna McCormick
- Current club: Adelaide United (Australia)
- Total caps: 4
Charlotte Mclean
- Current club: Sydney FC (Australia)
- Total caps: Uncapped
Jessika Nash
- Current club: Melbourne Victory (Australia)
- Total caps: 1
Jamilla Rankin
- Current club: Brisbane Roar (Australia)
- Total caps: 1
Karly Roestbakken
- Current club: Melbourne City (Australia)
- Total caps: 7
Overseas
Jacynta Galabadaarachchi
- Current club: Celtic FC (Scotland)
- Total caps: Uncapped
Winonah Heatley
- Current club: Nordsjælland (Denmark)
- Total caps: Uncapped
INJURY CLOUD
Either recovering from injury or fit again but out of the selection frame – these are the players who will aim to force their way back into Gustavsson’s plans after extended absence from the squad.
Ellie Carpenter
- Current club: Olympique Lyonnais (France)
- Total caps: 59
- Injury: Torn ACL
Holly McNamara
- Current club: Melbourne City (Australia)
- Total caps: 3
- Injury: Torn ACL
Taylor Ray
- Current club: Sydney FC (Australia)
- Total caps: 1
- Injury: Torn ACL
Kyah Simon
- Current club: Tottenham Hotspur (England)
- Total caps: 111
- Injury: Torn ACL
