England-Australia Women's World Cup semifinal evokes Ashes spirit

This is Australia’s Matildas against England’s Lionesses. The Women’s World Cup semifinals. The here and the now.

This high-octane football clash is also evoking comparisons to Ashes that have come to represent an intense cricket rivalry between Australia and England dating back to the 1800s.

That began with the burning of some bails — small wooden pegs that sit atop cricket stumps — after a team of English gentry lost to a squad of colonial upstarts from Australia.

But this is about an Australia football team led by superstar striker Sam Kerr — who has been injured for most of the tournament but will play some part in the game — against England defender Millie Bright and her European champions.

Kerr and Bright are teammates at Chelsea and have combined to win titles for the London-based club, but they're playing off here for a spot in the World Cup final against Spain.

England lost semifinals at the 2015 and 2019 Women’s World Cups. Australia are into the final four for the first time, and aiming to be just the second host to win the title on home soil.

Women’s football has been making its own history in England, where the Lionesses’ run to the European Championship title in 2022 captured the nation’s attention.

And it’s making history in Australia, where the Matildas have twice attracted crowds exceeding 75,000 in this tournament and will again on Wednesday night.

The 7-6 penalty shootout win over fifth-ranked France last Saturday in Brisbane was the highest-rating programme on Australian television in 2023.

Local media reported that the shootout pulled the biggest domestic audience for a sports event since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

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