Australian women's soccer team
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | Matildas |
|---|---|
| Association | Football Federation Australia |
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) |
| Sub-confederation | AFF (South-East Asia) |
| Head coach | Alen Stajcic |
| Captain |
Lisa De Vanna Clare Polkinghorne |
| Most caps | Cheryl Salisbury (151) |
| Top scorer | Lisa De Vanna (43) |
| FIFA code | AUS |
| FIFA ranking | |
| Current | 6  1 (1 September 2017)
|
| Highest | 5 (March 2016) |
| Lowest | 16 (October 2006) |
| First international | |
 Australia 2–2 New Zealand  (Sutherland, Australia; 6 October 1979) |
|
| Biggest win | |
Australia 21–0 American Samoa  (Auckland, New Zealand; 9 October 1998) |
|
| Biggest defeat | |
 United States 9–1 Australia (Ambler, United States; 5 June 1997) |
|
| World Cup | |
| Appearances | 6 (first in 1995) |
| Best result | Quarterfinals (2007, 2011, 2015) |
| Oceania Cup | |
| Appearances | 7 (first in 1983) |
| Best result | Winners (1995, 1998, 2003) |
| Asian Cup | |
| Appearances | 5 (first in 1975) |
| Best result | Winners (2010) |
 Aussies Abroad: The Matildas (ESPN) retrieved 12/18/2013
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The Australian women's national soccer team represents Australia in international women's soccer at the senior level. The team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Federation Australia (FFA), which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) since leaving the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in 2006. The team's official nickname is the Matildas (from the Australian folk song "Waltzing Matilda"), having been known as the Female Socceroos before 1995. The current team manager is Alen Stajcic.
Australia is a three-time OFC champion, one-time AFC champion and one-time AFF champion, and became the first ever national team to win in two different confederations (before the men's team did the same in 2015 AFC Asian Cup). The team has represented Australia at the FIFA Women's World Cup on five occasions and at the Olympics Games on two, although has won neither tournament. Immediately following the 2015 World Cup, Australia was ranked ninth in the world by FIFA.
The Australian Women's Soccer Association (AWSA) was founded in 1974 and a representative Australian team competed at the following year's Asian Women's Championship. A national team made up primarily of players from New South Wales and Western Australia was sent to the 1978 inaugural World Women's Invitational Tournament, in Taipei, Taiwan. Australia played against club teams at the tournament and none of the players' appearances counted as official caps.Coached by Jim Selby, the selected players were: Sandra Brentnall (WA), Connie Byrnes (captain, NSW), Julie Clayton (WA), Kim Coates (NSW), Julie Dolan (NSW), Cindy Heydon (NSW), Barbara Kozak (WA), Sharon Loveless (WA), Toni McMahon (NSW), Sue Monteath (QLD), Sharon Pearson (NSW), Judy Pettitt (WA), Anna Senjuschenko (WA), Teresa Varadi (WA), Leigh Wardell (NSW) and Monika Werner (VIC).
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