Women’s World Cup hosts Australia aim for their deepest-ever run at the tournament but face a France team that feel like a dark horse contender for the whole thing. Both teams stumbled early on in the tournament, but are peaking at the right time and fully have their eyes on the prize. Saturday’s quarterfinal also serves as perhaps the most serious test for both teams yet — both teams have gone largely untested since the early days of the group stage but offer plenty of attacking quality to stump the opposition.
One thing Australia has that France does not, though, is home-field advantage. The Matildas have played in front of packed stadiums throughout the tournament and are capturing the hearts and minds for those who could not snag a ticket by setting viewership records. Nearly 2.3 million people watched the team’s round of 16 win over Denmark on television alone, which was the largest audience for free-to-air channel Seven all year.
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