The Matildas have been praised for their sportsmanship after defeating Denmark 2-0 and knocking them out of the World Cup.
Australia have equalled their best ever result at a FIFA World Cup after the Matildas booked their spot in the quarterfinals for the fourth time in their history.
After a nervy opening 15 minutes, the home side opened the scoring when a beautiful through ball from Mary Fowler perfectly set up Caitlin Foord, who nutmegged Denmark’s keeper and hit the back of the net.
Hayley Raso then put the result beyond doubt in the 70th minute when she made it 2-0 with her third goal of the tournament.
Sam Kerr came on with 10 minutes remaining for a run around, although she gave Aussie fans a fright when she slipped over in the dying stages.
It was as perfect a performance you could have hoped from the Matildas, who showed how to win the right way after the final whistle was blown.
The players celebrated respectfully and consoled devastated Denmark players in touching scenes at Sydney’s Stadium Australia.
Defender Ellie Carpenter shared a heartwarming hug with distraught Danish striker Signe Bruun, with the former Lyon teammates also swapping jerseys after the game.
Several other Matildas players were seen consoling their Danish opponents in classy acts of sportsmanship.
Carpenter was also spotted embracing Canadian players after Australia knocked the Olympic champions out with a 4-0 win in the group stage.
In more touching post-match scenes, Kerr embraced her girlfriend Kristie Mewis in the stands just 24 hours after the USA star’s tournament was ended despite her nailing her penalty against Sweden.
The comfortable win over Denmark means the Matildas have equalled their best ever result at a World Cup, backing up quarterfinal appearances in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
But it feels like they still have plenty more to give and fans are daring to dream they can go all the way after giants USA, Germany and Brazil were knocked out.
The Matildas will face either France or Morocco in the quarterfinal in Brisbane on Saturday at 5pm AEST.