As the Matildas prepare to kick off their Paris 2024™ Women’s Football Tournament next week against Germany, get to know the squad representing Australia in France.
Over the next few days, we will take a closer look at the players selected in each position. Lastly, our midfielders/forwards.
READ MORE: Meet the Paris 2024™ Squad: The Goalkeepers
READ MORE: Meet the Paris 2024™ Squad: The Defenders
Kyra Cooney-Cross
Debut: 10/6/2021 v Denmark
Matildas Cap Number: 210
Jersey Number: 8
Appearances (goals): 45 (0)
Major Tournaments: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022, Olympic Games 2021 & 2024.
Current Club: Arsenal, England
Junior Club: Bli Bli United FC (QLD)
Born in the ‘Sunshine State’ of Queensland, and growing up in Torquay, Victoria, Cooney-Cross has become a key member of the Matildas midfield since making her debut in 2021. She made her entrance into the A-League Women’s with Melbourne Victory at the age of 15, before joining the Western Sydney Wanderers for the 2019/20 season.
Cooney-Cross returned to Victory the following season and memorably scored the only goal of the 2021 Grand Final, an Olimpico in the final minute of stoppage time that saw her side defeat Sydney FC 1-0 for the Championship. Following a second championship with Victory in the 2021/22 season, Cooney-Cross secured her first overseas contract and signed with Damallsvenskan side Hammarby IF in Sweden, where she became a regular starter and fan favourite.
She lifted the Swedish Cup with them in 2023 and just after her late-season departure, the club claimed the Damallsvenskan title for the first time in 38 years. Cooney-Cross had a breakout FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ thanks to stellar performances as part of a formidable midfield partnership with close friend Katrina Gorry.
Starting in all of Australia’s matches, Cooney-Cross’ vision, passing range and defensive work ethic were on full display and gained notice internationally. It resulted in the biggest club move of her career so far, signing with the Arsenal WFC for the 2023/24 Women’s Super League season. Cooney-Cross made 14 WSL appearances in her first English top-flight season. Rapidly closing in on 50 international appearances, the talented midfielder is now set for her second Olympic Games at Paris 2024™.
Caitlin Foord
Debut: 12/5/2011 v New Zealand
Matildas Cap Number: 175
Jersey Number: 9
Appearances (goals): 123 (36)
Major Tournaments: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011, 2015, 2019 & 2023, AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2014, 2018 & 2022, Olympic Games 2016, 2021 & 2024.
Current Club: Arsenal, England
Junior Club: Warilla Wanderers (NSW)
Caitlin Foord burst onto the international scene as a fresh-faced teenager in 2011 – winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ Best Young Player award. Since her emergence, Foord has transitioned from an energetic attacking-minded full-back to become one of the most versatile forwards at the Matildas’ disposal heading into Paris 2024™.
Originally from Shellharbour, Foord started her A-League Women’s career at the Central Coast Mariners before debuting in the competition for Sydney FC in 2010. Sydney was the club she would become most associated with in the league, scoring 28 goals in 86 appearances between 2010 and 2020.
During her time in the Australian league, Foord won two Championships and a Premiership with the Sky Blues, as well as a Premiership with Perth Glory in 2014. Like many of her national teammates, Foord played in the NWSL during the A-League Women’s offseason, firstly for Sky Blue FC from 2013 to 2015, and then for the Portland Thorns in 2018 and 2019.
Foord also made 17 appearances and scored four goals for Japanese Nadeshiko League side, Vegalta Sendai Ladies, in 2017. In 2020 the winger signed for Arsenal WFC in the WSL.
She has since scored 24 goals for the Gunners, helping them claim consecutive League Cups in 2023 and 2024. The 29-year-old was critical to Australia’s success at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™. Foord started every game and scored in the side’s 2-0 victory over Denmark in the Round of 16. With over 100 caps to her name, Paris 2024™ will be her third Olympic Games and her ninth major tournament for the Matildas.
Mary Fowler
Debut: 26/7/2018 v Brazil
Matildas Cap Number: 202
Jersey Number: 11
Appearances (goals): 53 (15)
Major Tournaments: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 & 2023, AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022, Olympic Games 2021 & 2024.
Current Club: Manchester City, England
Junior Club: Leichhardt FC (QLD)
Heading into her fifth major tournament at Paris 2024™, Mary Fowler has emerged as one of the Matildas’ most versatile attacking players. Born in Cairns, in Queensland’s far north, Fowler always dreamed of being an Olympian engaging in “mini Olympics” with her four siblings on the beach. Now, as she approaches Paris, she will continue to live out her childhood dreams.
The forward debuted for the Matildas before even commencing her professional career, the then 15-year-old shone for the Young Matildas to the extent that her talent was impossible to ignore. Fowler was subsequently selected as the youngest member of the Matildas squad at the FIFA Women ’s World Cup France 2019™.
Following that tournament, the teenager signed her first professional contract for Adelaide United later that year. In 2020, she moved overseas after sealing her first overseas contract with Montpellier HSC. She would spend two seasons in the French topflight before inking a four-year contract with the powerhouse Manchester City in the WSL.
Fowler started six of the Matildas’ seven matches at the FIFA Women ’s World Cup 2023™, recording a goal and an assist. A highly technically gifted player with an ability to unlock defences and a nose for goal, her first season with City was one of growth, one that has already seen payoff in 2023/24 with 10 goal contributions in her 13 starts last season. Set for her second Olympic Games, Fowler is looking to continue contributing to the Matildas’ recent success at Paris 2024™.
Katrina Gorry
Debut: 11/7/2012 v Japan
Matildas Cap Number: 183
Jersey Number: 6
Appearances (goals): 108 (17)
Major Tournaments: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015, 2019 & 2023, AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2014 & 2018, Olympic Games 2016, 2021 & 2024.
Current Club: West Ham FC, England
Junior Club: Mount Gravatt Hawks FC (QLD)
Katrina “Mini” Gorry enters Paris 2024™ as one of the Matildas’ most experienced players and a vital midfield general. The Queenslander started her professional career at Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United before returning home to play with Brisbane Roar in 2012 – the club for whom she would become synonymous domestically.
Her 116 appearances – the third-most in Roar history – and 25 goals mean that she is a bona fide Queensland football legend. When not lining up for the Roar, her club career has taken her all over the world. Gorry has played in Canada, Japan, the United States, Sweden, and most recently England, where she represents West Ham United in the WSL.
Paris 2024™ is Gorry’s second major tournament after the birth of her daughter, Harper, in 2021. Since her return to international football Mini has been a giant in the Matildas engine room.
Her ability to cover the pitch, screen the defence, and make critical disruptions in opposition attacks, while controlling Australia’s own offensive efforts, make her a key component of the team.
This was on display during the FIFA Women ’s World Cup 2023™ where she started all seven matches, making the most tackles (59) and was sixth for distance covered ( 74.8km). An ankle injury acquired in late March cut her season with West Ham short, but the 31-year-old has recovered for her seventh major tournament.
Michelle Heyman
Debut: 3/03/2010 v Korea DPR
Matildas Cap Number: 170
Jersey Number: 2
Appearances (goals): 66 (26)
Major Tournaments: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015, AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2014 & 2018, Olympic Games 2016 & 2024.
Current Club: Canberra United, Australia
Junior Club: Illawarra Stingrays (NSW)
Michelle Heyman’s resurgence from five years of international absence to an Olympic Games return is one of the most compelling Australian sporting stories of 2024. Heyman’s breakout season of professional football came all the way back in 2009 when the centre-forward won the first of her three A-League Women’s Golden Boots with the Central Coast Mariners.
Her decision to join Canberra United in 2010 was an inspired one with Heyman notching up 155 appearances – the highest in United’s history. Her club career has also taken her overseas to Brøndby IF in 2012, and the Western New York Flash in 2015. Debuting for the Matildas in 2010 on the back of superb league form, she narrowly missed out on the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ but would go on to appear at four major tournaments between 2014 and 2018, including the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™ and Rio 2016™ Olympic Games.
Heyman announced her retirement from international football in 2019 and took a break from club football for the 2019/20 season. However, since returning to Canberra United in 2020, she has been in career-best form.
With 48 goals in 66 appearances – highlighted by becoming the first player to score 100 goals in the A-League Women in January 2024 – she emerged as the replacement for injured striker Sam Kerr.
A pacy forward with the ability to find space behind defensive lines, or hold up the ball to bring her teammates into the mix, Heyman has scored six international goals since returning to the national team in February 2024. Poised for her second Olympic Games, the 36-year-old will hope to continue her goalscoring form and add to her Olympic goal tally at Paris 2024™.
Hayley Raso
Debut: 24/6/2012 v New Zealand
Matildas Cap Number: 179
Jersey Number: 16
Appearances (goals): 87 (18)
Major Tournaments: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015, 2019 & 2023, AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2018 & 2022, Olympic Games 2021 & 2024.
Current Club: Unattached
Junior Club: Banora Point SC (QLD)
Queenslander Hayley Raso will enter her second Olympic Games at Paris 2024™. The pacy winger first appeared for the national team in 2012 after starting her club career the previous year with Canberra United.
She played in the A-League Women until 2020, featuring for Canberra, hometown side Brisbane Roar, and Melbourne Victory collecting three A-League Women Premiership titles. In 2016 Raso moved to the NWSL where she played for the Washington Spirit before spending four seasons with the Portland Thorns, where she won an NWSL Shield and a Championship.
It was while playing for the Thorns that she was sidelined for six months with a broken vertebra. In 2019 she made an inspired comeback to football and the national team when she took to the field at the 2019 Cup of Nations – and ‘Ribbons’ hasn’t looked back since. Raso would go on to make her on-pitch FIFA Women’s World Cup debut in Canada in 2015, with an Olympic Games berth to follow at Tokyo 2020™.
She signed for Everton in the WSL in 2020 before moving to Manchester City, where she won the League Cup in 2022. The Queenslander was one of the stars of the FIFA Women ’s World Cup 2023™. She scored three goals, including a brace in the crucial group stage game against Canada with her performances earning Raso a nomination for the Ballon d’Or in 2023 and seeing her sign for Spanish giants, Real Madrid for the 2023/24 season.
Now, having played the 2023/24 season for Spanish giants Real Madrid, Raso is poised to use her energy and vitality to great effect against opposition defences at the Women ’s Olympic Football Tournament.
Emily van Egmond (Vice Captain)
Debut: 6/3/2010 v Korea DPR
Matildas Cap Number: 172
Jersey Number: 10
Appearances (goals): 145 (31)
Major Tournaments: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011, 2015, 2019 & 2023, AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2014, 2018 & 2022, Olympic Games 2016, 2021 & 2024.
Current Club: San Diego Wave FC, USA
Junior Club: Dudley Redhead United FC (NSW)
Vice-captain Emily van Egmond is a familiar face to many Matildas fans, having made 114 appearances for Australia since her 2010 debut. Van Egmond made her way onto the international stage for the Matildas at just 16 following in the footsteps of her father, Gary, as an Australian international.
She experienced her first senior club season in 2008/09 with her hometown club the Newcastle Jets. Her tournament bow came at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ in Germany where she scored her first international goal against Equatorial Guinea as a 17-year-old. Club football has seen the midfielder make appearances for the Jets, Canberra United and Melbourne City, before taking off abroad to Denmark, Germany, England, and most recently the United States, where she currently plays alongside Kaitlyn Torpey for the San Diego Wave.
As a player, Van Egmond is known for her acumen on the pitch and ability to pick out defence-splitting passes. She is capable of pulling the strings from the middle of the park while being a decisive finisher, particularly in the second phase of play.
The Novocastrian has played a versatile role for Gustavsson over the last 12 months as either a deep-lying midfielder, a central attacking midfielder, or a centre-forward. Her game intelligence and experience will be called upon again as she heads into her third Olympic Games at Paris 2024™.
Cortnee Vine
Debut: 24/1/2022 v Philippines
Matildas Cap Number: 220
Jersey Number: 5
Appearances (goals): 29 (3)
Major Tournaments: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022, Olympic Games 2024.
Current Club: North Carolina Courage, USA
Junior Club: Peninsula Power FC (QLD)
As a youngster growing up in Queensland, Cortnee Vine wrote a list of the things she wanted to achieve on the back of her bedroom door. She is now preparing to tick off yet another one of those goals, selected for her first Olympic Games after a whirlwind two-and-a-half years in Australian colours.
Vine debuted for the Brisbane Roar back in 2015. Playing for the Newcastle Jets, and the Western Sydney Wanderers, five years of attempting to find her feet in the A-League Women – followed, before signing with Sydney FC for the 2020/21 season.
It was at the Sky Blues that Vine began to flourish. Her form in the 2021/22 season became impossible for the national team to ignore, and she was called up to make her debut at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022™.
Her continued strong performances led to selection in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ squad, where she would become the centre of a historic moment in Australian sporting history. Vine arrives in Paris having claimed a second Championship with Sydney FC alongside three Premierships.
The winger announced her transfer to North Carolina Courage in the NWSL to participate in her first overseas club season. Blessed with blistering pace and ability to find space out wide, she will be an asset for the team during the Olympic Games.
Clare Wheeler
Debut: 21/9/2021 v Republic of Ireland
Matildas Cap Number: 213
Jersey Number: 17
Appearances (goals): 21 (2)
Major Tournaments: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022, Olympic Games 2024.
Current Club: Everton F.C., England
Junior Club: Adamstown Rosebud (NSW)
Clare Wheeler heads into her first Olympic Games after a highly impressive season in the Women’s Super League for Everton.
The midfielder from Coffs Harbour started her club career at the Newcastle Jets, pushing for seven seasons before signing with Sydney FC in 2020/21.
At Sydney FC was where Wheeler found her feet as she scored four goals in twelve appearances and earned a reputation as one of the top midfielders in the country. Wheeler signed her first overseas contract for Fortuna Hjørring in Denmark on the back of that breakout Sky Blues season and a Matildas debut soon followed in September 2021.
The 26-year-old has made a name for herself for her industrious work in the centre of the park, with a neat possession-based game. She is noted for her ability to read the game, be well-positioned and dictate terms from the base of midfield.
A move to Everton eventuated in 2022 with her playing time and importance to the side continuing to grow across her two seasons in England. Wheeler comes into the Paris 2024™ games with solid experience at the club level and internationally.
Tameka Yallop
Debut: 4/8/2007 v Hong Kong
Matildas Cap Number: 148
Jersey Number: 13
Appearances (goals): 123 (13)
Major Tournaments: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011, 2015, 2019 & 2023, AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2008, 2010, 2014, 2018 & 2022, Olympic Games 2016, 2021 & 2024.
Current Club: Brisbane Roar, Australia
Junior Club: Mudgeeraba SC (QLD)
A quiet achiever, Tameka Yallop enters Paris 2024™ ready for her twelfth major tournament with the Matildas. Growing up on the Gold Coast, Yallop began her senior club career with the Brisbane Roar during the first season of the A-League Women in 2008/09.
The Roar would be the club to which she would become inextricably linked making 149 appearances and scoring 60 goals for the club. Along the way, she captured three A-League Women’s Premierships, to Championships and the 2013/14 Julie Dolan Medal for the Player of the Year.
Her club career has taken her all over the world featuring in leagues such as the NWSL, the Frauen-Bundesliga, and the WSL, while also playing spells in Canada, Japan, Sweden and Norway.
She made her international debut at the age of 16 in 2007 and has been ever-present since in the green and gold. Yallop is one of Australian football’s most versatile players with a chameleon-like ability to slot into the midfield, attack or defence with aplomb. The 33-year-old is set to once again be a player who can take on any position for the team when called upon at Paris 2024™.
Sharn Freier (Travelling Alternate)
Debut: 9/04/2024 v Mexico
Matildas Cap Number: 228
Jersey Number: 21
Appearances (goals): 2 (0)
Current Club: Brisbane Roar, Australia
Junior Club: Moreton Bay United FC (QLD)
Sharn Freier burst onto the scene this year after fantastic performances for Brisbane Roar earned her Matildas debut against Mexico and a place as an alternate for Paris 2024™.
The quietly spoken 22-year-old was born and raised in Redcliffe, where she cut her teeth for Pine Rivers United, Moreton Bay United and The Gap FC in NPL Queensland. Freier earned her first A-League Women’s contract with Brisbane Roar in 2020 at 18 years old and went about forging a burgeoning body of work at the top level.
What seemed like what was going to be a straightforward path hit a roadblock in mid-2021 when a ruptured ACL forced Freier to miss what would have been her second top-flight season. The Roar continued to show faith and it paid off in her breakout 2023/24 season.
She was a bright spark for Brisbane, scoring three goals and contributing five assists. Promisingly, she created the most chances in the entire competition, which was the backbone of her compelling case to national team selectors.
Freier earned her second Matildas appearance against China PR in Adelaide, giving Australian fans a first glimpse of her talent on the ball and in one-on-one situations.
AUSTRALIA | MATCH SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024™ OLYMPIC GAMES
Germany v Australia
Date: Thursday 25 July 2024 (local) / Friday 26 July 2024 (AEST)
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local) / 3.00am AEST
Venue: Stade de Marseille, Marseille, France
Broadcast: Channel 9, 9Now & Stan Sport (Australia)
Australia v Zambia
Date: Sunday 28 July 2024 (local) / Monday 29 July 2024 (AEST)
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local) / 3.00am AEST
Venue: Stade de Nice, Nice, France
Broadcast: Channel 9, 9Now & Stan Sport (Australia)
Australia v United States
Date: Wednesday 31 July 2024 (local) / Thursday 1 August 2024 (AEST)
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local) / 3.00am AEST
Venue: Stade de Marseille, Marseille, France
Broadcast: Channel 9, 9Now & Stan Sport (Australia)