Sam Kerr played through injury to help the Matildas to historic Olympic Games semi-final berth in Tokyo

The striker put away two goals to help the Australian side progress to a semi-final for the first time in Olympic history and, in turn, equalised Lisa De Vanna's 47 goals to become the joint Matildas leading goal-scorer.

Head coach Tony Gustavsson let slip the striker was carrying an injury after the match, when he praised her performance.

"You can't look away from the fact that we scored four goals from four different types of set plays and then you also can't look away from the player sitting next to me," he said.

"The way Sam led the team tonight even though she was in pain, it was one of those that should she push through or should I take her off, I mean we had communication throughout the game, but there's no way Sam steps off in a game like this.

"And the way she leads this group in the locker room, back at the hotel, on the buses, they are huge reasons why we won this game."

Despite alluding to the injury, the Australian camp was yet to confirm the extent of the problem Kerr was carrying during the more-than-120-minute match and if it will have any impact heading into the semi-final match.

"I was playing on one leg for a long time there, I've got a sore butt, but I have confidence that no matter what minute, my team will get it to me," she told The Guardian.

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Injury aside, the 27-year-old is three goals away from overtaking Tim Cahill's record 50 goals for the Socceroos and becoming Australia's greatest goal-scorer ever.

Her brace against GB drew her level with De Vanna for the Matildas' leading goal-scorer title but she has the opportunity to claim the overall honour.

Kerr's milestone was not the only one at Kashima Stadium. Mary Fowler scored her second goal for the national side, Tegan Micah made seven saves, the joint-most by any goalkeeper in a game at Tokyo so far in only her fifth national cap, and Alanna Kennedy blocked three shots during the match, the most by any Matildas player in an Olympic game since the beginning of 2016.

"I can't explain how proud I am to be a part of this team and to lead this team out. Every day they surprise me, " Kerr said.

"We've got kids out there, we've got Mary [Fowler] who is 18 and I'm just so proud of everyone."

For the first time, the Matildas have a chance at a medal in the Olympics. The only other team to come close is the 1992 Olyroos, who finished fourth in Barcelona.

The side will face Sweden in the semi-final, who they lost 4-2 to in the group stage, but Gustavsson said they would stick to their game plan.

"When you look at the rankings, obviously GB were the second favourite in this tournament ... and obviously Sweden is ranked above us as well, but I think we've shown throughout this tournament that we believe in ourselves and we stay loyal to who we are, and the way that we play," he said.

"We did that when we played Sweden last time, we did it when we played the US, we did it when we played GB so just believing in ourselves we will go up and ... play our A-game and hopefully take us to the final.

"This group of players are amazing. To see the 'never say die' attitude on show [on Friday] and it's not thanks to me, it's something that they've done for decades before I arrived and ... I'm very thankful and proud of that."

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