World Cup hosts to inspire a generation

It felt almost like Christmas morning when they woke to the news Australia and New Zealand had won the vote count to host the 2023 tournament.

It will be the biggest tournament in women's football history, with the world's best footballers from 32 nations set to compete for the title.

But the likes of Sam Kerr and Alex Morgan won't be brought to Canberra Stadium after the ACT government withdrew from the bid, deeming the cost of hosting matches too high.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said Football Federation Australia wanted $1 million per game and could not guarantee the Matildas would play in Canberra.

But the tournament is still expected to have a massive impact on Canberra anyway and is set to help boost female participation. In the trans-Tasman proposal, it was estimated the World Cup would help Australia reach its goal of having 600,000 female players and a 50 per cent gender split by 2027.

Football is the highest participation sport in the ACT with about 58,600 participants, according to the latest AusPlay survey by Sport Australia.

Capital Football boss Phil Brown expected participation rates to soar as World Cup fever reached Canberra.

"It will absolutely bring a focus to grassroots football, similar to what the Asian Cup did but at a much grander scale," Brown said.

"We're really hoping to see some young boys and girls being able to aspire to the achievements of the Matildas."

Some of Canberra's youngest players are already excited about watching their favourite players at the 2023 World Cup, like Majura FC's Isla Farrell.

Isla, 11, has played football since she was five and is inspired by Sam Kerr and Alanna Kennedy. So she's already begging her parents to plan a trip to Sydney in 2023.

"I'm extremely excited. My parents went to last year's one in France but I couldn't go because of school," she said.

"Now it's coming to Australia and Sydney is only a few hours away, we can actually go.

"It's the first time ever and I'm so excited."

Her teammate Hannah Reid is also excited about the World Cup coming to Australia, saying she's looking forward to seeing the Matildas play live for the first time.

"I'm super excited, it's really cool to see Australia represented in our own country," Hannah said.

"It would definitely be cool to see them play live, I love watching Ellie Carpenter."

Isla and Hannah will start their 2020 MiniRoos season with Majura FC at Dickson Oval today.

Canberra's National Premier League and remaining seasons will resume on July 18.