WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Australia play their biggest match ever as they face England
The Stadium Australia is expected to be packed on Wednesday as joint hosts, Australia face England in the second FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 semi-final. It is a clash of hosts against European champions.
This will be Australia’s first semi-final appearance at a FIFA Women’s World Cup, after they bowed out at the quarter-final stage in three of their previous campaigns (2007, 2011 and 2015).
In reaching the last four, the Matildas became only the second nation to have made it through to the FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-finals as hosts, after the USA, who were winners in 1999 and finished third in 2003. Tony Gustavsson’s charges will have a golden opportunity to make yet more history if they manage to overcome England in this one.
England have reached the semi-finals for the third consecutive edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Led by Sarina Wiegman – the only female coach left in the competition – the Lionesses overcame a valiant Colombia side in the last eight and will be going all out to secure their spot in a second successive major tournament final, after lifting the EURO crown on home soil in 2022.
LAST MEETING:
- 11/04/2023, England 0-2 Australia, friendly, Brentford Community Stadium, Brentford (England)
KEY FACTS
This will be a 32nd FIFA Women’s World Cup fixture for both nations. Australia’s record at the finals reads: Won: 10, Drawn: 7, Lost: 14, while England’s is: Won: 19, Drawn: 5, Lost: 7.
This will be the teams’ first FIFA Women’s World Cup meeting. England will be Australia’s 17th different opponent in the competition, while the Lionesses will be facing their 18th different opponent.
Australia are the third Asian Football Confederation (AFC) representatives to feature in the semi-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, after China PR (1995, 1999) and Japan (2011, 2015).
The AFC teams’ record in the FIFA Women’s World Cup last four reads: Won 3, Lost 1.
Sides from the region have emerged victorious in each of their last three matches at this stage of the tournament, since China PR lost to Germany at the 1995 edition.
Australia have scored 47 goals in FIFA Women’s World Cup history and are therefore three shy of the 50 goal landmark.
Australia’s 31 FIFA Women’s World Cup matches have yielded a total of 100 goals (Goals For: 47, Goals Against: 53).
Australia’s nine-goal haul at this year’s finals has equalled their previous highest tally in a single edition of the tournament, which they recorded at the 2007 and 2019 instalments.
England have won 10 and drawn one of their last 13 FIFA Women’s World Cup matches (Won:10, Drawn 1, Lost 2).
The Lionesses have prevailed in three and drawn one of their five FIFA Women’s World Cup outings against AFC opposition (Won 3, Drawn 1, Lost 1).
England’s highest goals tally at a FIFA Women’s World Cup final competition is 13 (2019). They have found the net ten times so far at these finals.
England’s goalless stalemate against Nigeria in the round of 16 is the only occasion in their last 18 FIFA Women’s World Cup matches in which they have failed to score.
When she scored in the quarter-finals, Lauren Hemp (23y 5d) became the youngest England player to have netted in a FIFA Women’s World Cup knockout-stage match, claiming the record from her team mate Lucy Bronze, who was aged 23 years and 237 days when she was on target in the round of 16 meeting against Norway at the 2015 tournament.
AUSTRALIA TEAM FACTS
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TEAM RECORDS
- Overall record: Played: 31, Won: 10, Drawn: 7, Lost: 14, Goals For: 47, Goal Against: 53, Goals Difference: -6
- Biggest win: 4-0 Australia v. Canada (31/07/2023)
- Biggest defeat: 0-5Australia v. Denmark (06/06/1995)
- Highest scoring match: 6 goals – Australia 2-4 China PR (08/06/1995)
- Most goals scored in a match: 4 – Australia 4-1 Ghana (12/09/2007)/Australia 4-1 Jamaica (18/06/2019)/Australia 4-0 Canada (31/07/2023)
- Most goals conceded in a match: 5 – Australia 0-5 Denmark (06/06/1995)
- Most goals scored at a FIFA Women’s World Cup: 9 – 2007, 2019 and 2023 (5 matches)
- Fewest goals scored at a FIFA Women’s World Cup: 3 – 1995, 1999 and 2003 (3 matches) Most goals conceded at a FIFA Women’s World Cup: 13 – 1995 (3 matches)
- Fewest goals conceded at a FIFA Women’s World Cup: 3 – 2023 (5 matches)
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP STREAKS
- Successive wins: 2 (2011, 2019 and 2023)
- Successive defeats: 3 (1995 and 1999-2003)
- Successive draws: 2 (2007)
- Successive matches without a defeat: 4 (2019-2023)
- Successive matches without a win: 9 (1995-2003)
- Successive matches with a goal scored: 12 (1995-2007)
- Successive matches without scoring: 1 (four times, the last of which was 2023-present)
- Successive clean sheets: 3 (2023-present)
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP EXTRA-TIME MATCHES
- 22/06/2019 Australia 1-1 Norway (1-4 PSO) (round of 16)
- 12/08/2023 Australia 0-0 France (7-6 PSO) (quarter-finals)
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP PENALTY SHOOT-OUTS (Won 0, Lost; 1)
- 22/06/2019 Australia 1-4 Norway (PSO) (round of 16)
- 12/08/2023 Australia 7-6 France (PSO) (quarter-finals)
England team facts
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TEAM RECORDS
- Overall record: Played: 31,Won: 19, Drawn: 5, Lost: 7, Goals For: 53, Goals Against: 32, Goal Difference: 21
- Biggest win: 6-1England v. Argentina (17/09/2007)/6-1 England v. China PR (01/08/2023)
- Biggest defeat: 0-3 England v. Germany (13/06/1995)/0-3 England v. USA (22/09/2007)
- Highest scoring match: 7 goals – England 6-1 Argentina (17/09/2007)/England 6-1 China PR (01/08/2023)
- Most goals scored in a match: 6 – England 6-1 Argentina (17/09/2007)/England 6-1 China PR (01/08/2023)
- Most goals conceded in a match: 3 – England 0-3 Germany (13/06/1995)/England 0-3 USA (22/09/2007)
- Most goals scored at a FIFA Women’s World Cup: 13 – 2019 (7 matches)
- Fewest goals scored at a FIFA Women’s World Cup: 6 – 1995 and 2011 (4 matches)
- Most goals conceded at a FIFA Women’s World Cup: 9 – 1995 (4 matches)
- Fewest goals conceded at a FIFA Women’s World Cup: 2 – 2023 (5 matches)
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP STREAKS
- Successive wins: 6 (2015-2019)
- Successive defeats: 2 (2019)
- Successive draws: 2 (2007)
- Successive matches without a defeat: 6 (2015-2019)
- Successive matches without a win: 3 (1995-2007)
- Successive matches with a goal scored: 16 (2015-2023)
- Successive matches without scoring: 1 (six times, the last of which was 2023-present)
- Successive clean sheets: 4 (2019)
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP EXTRA-TIME MATCHES
- 09/07/2011 England 1-1 France (3-4 PSO) (quarter-finals)
- 04/07/2015 England 1-0 Germany (match for third place)
- 07/08/2023 England 0-0 Nigeria (4-2 PSO) (round of 16)
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP PENALTY SHOOT-OUTS (Won: 1, Lost 1)
- 09/07/2011 England 3-4 France (PSO) (quarter-finals)
- 07/08/2023 England 4-2 Nigeria (PSO) (round of 16)
The Iranian women’s soccer team crossed the Turkish border into Iran on Wednesday to complete a fraught return journey from Australia, after five members withdrew asylum claims they had lodged there.
Australia had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member after they sought asylum, saying they feared possible persecution if they returned to Iran.
Concerns over their safety surfaced when several players failed to sing the national anthem at a women’s Asian Cup match earlier this month after the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran. Iranian state television had labelled them “wartime traitors”.
The team, which flew into Istanbul on Tuesday, took a flight to Igdir in eastern Turkey on Wednesday morning.
The players emerged from Igdir Airport, pulling their luggage and chatted in front of the terminal before boarding a bus to the border. One of them briefly smiled and waved at a TV camera before the bus departed. After a trip of around two hours to the frontier, they went through passport control at the Gurbulak border gate before crossing over into Iran.
A bus carrying members of the Iranian women’s national soccer team arrives at the Gurbulak Border Gate, a crossing point between Turkey and Iran, as they travel to their home country after five players withdrew the asylum claims they had lodged in Australia over safety concerns about returning due to not singing the national anthem at a women’s Asian Cup match earlier this month, in the eastern Agri province, Turkey, March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Ali Ihsan Ozturk
The team’s Asian Cup campaign began just as the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament more than a week ago.
Five of those who had sought asylum in Australia subsequently changed their minds and decided to return home, with Australian media reporting the latest withdrawal on Monday.
They rejoined the rest of the squad in Kuala Lumpur, where the team had been staying since leaving Sydney last week.
The Iranian Football Association (FFIRI) said last week that those who had changed their minds would travel home with the rest of the team “to once again be embraced by their families and homeland.”
Two players are still in Australia and have been pictured training with a local A-League club.
-Reuters
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The two players from the Iranian women’s soccer squad who chose to remain in Australia after seeking asylum have been pictured training with a local A-League club as they begin their new lives in the country.
Midfielder Fatemeh Pasandideh and defender Atefeh Ramezanizadeh were among seven members of Iran’s delegation granted humanitarian visas amid fears of possible persecution if they returned home after competing in the women’s Asian Cup in Australia.
Concerns over their safety emerged after the players failed to sing their national anthem before their opening match on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland. Iranian state media labelled them as “wartime traitors”, with the team’s campaign beginning as the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran.
Five members of the group, however, subsequently changed their minds about Australia’s asylum offer and decided to return home.
Queensland-based A-League club Brisbane Roar announced on social media the remaining two players, Pasandideh and Ramezanizadeh, had joined a training session with its women’s team on Monday.
“Brisbane Roar officially welcomed both Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanizadeh to the club’s training facilities…and remain committed to providing a supportive environment for them whilst they navigate the next stages,” CEO Kaz Patafta said.
Photos posted by the club showed the two players meeting the Brisbane Roar squad and taking part in shooting drills.
“Thank you for everything,” wrote Ramezanizadeh, 33, under the post on Instagram.
Pasandideh, 21, also posted on her Instagram story on Monday a photo with FIFA Chief Football Officer Jill Ellis in Brisbane with a caption saying “everything will be fine”.
While the pair began their new lives in Australia, their former teammates made their way home to Iran from Malaysia.
The team was seen at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday evening, checking in on an Oman Air flight, although their destination was unclear.
-Reuters
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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Three Iranian women soccer players to return home after seeking asylum in Australia
Three members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who had sought asylum in Australia have decided to return to Iran, Australia’s government said on Sunday.
Australia granted humanitarian visas to seven Iranian footballers last week after they sought asylum, saying they feared persecution if they returned home after they failed to sing the national anthem at a Women’s Asian Cup match.
Four of the seven members have decided to leave Australia so far. Another member changed her mind last week.
“After telling Australian officials they had made this decision, the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options,” Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
“While the Australian Government can ensure that opportunities are provided and communicated, we cannot remove the context in which the players are making these incredibly difficult decisions,” he added.
The Iranian Football Association (FFIRI) named the players as Mona Hamoudi, Zahra Sarbali and Zahra Meshkehkar.
“After arriving in Malaysia and joining the rest of Iran’s women’s national football team, the three players will travel to Tehran in the coming days to once again be embraced by their families and homeland,” FFIRI added in a statement.
The Iranian team’s campaign in the Asian Cup started just as the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran, killing the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament last Sunday.
-Reuters
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