Game-changers: Matildas chase history in FIFA Women's World Cup

But there are no questions about Sam Kerr and whether she might finally play, no sign of the Foord falcon or the brilliance of Mary Fowler and Hayley Raso. Jersey sleeves stretch beyond the elbows and the couple standing alone at the top of the bleachers might bring the crowd to 1500.

This is Vasteras in central Sweden. It's 1995, and the Matildas are playing in the World Cup for the first time - but the 5-0 loss barely causes a ripple back home. Angela Ianotta scores the Matildas' first World Cup goal two days later, but she has to wait more than two decades to see the footage, for so long convinced it was lost in history.

Twenty-eight years later, the Matildas and Denmark meet again in a World Cup. This time, we're in Sydney for the round of 16, and there are 75,784 people inside Stadium Australia.

On the outside, Channel Seven's broadcast of Monday's game reached 6.54 million viewers, the network's No.1 show of the year.

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The ninth Women's World Cup is already the most-attended edition and more than 1,715,000 tickets have already been sold to easily surpass the initial target of 1.3 million. Matildas jerseys are flying off the shelves and today Kerr is perhaps Australia's most marketable athlete.

The ACT government will continue to defend its decision to bypass the World Cup, adamant they wouldn't have got bang for their buck. You've got to wonder if Andrew Barr and Yvette Berry are shifting uneasily in their seats as the tournament goes on.

Never mind the fact a group stage game between Colombia and South Korea - which kicked off at midday at the Sydney Football Stadium - drew a crowd of 24,323.

Fans are voting with their feet.

It has been 10 years since the Matildas played two games against New Zealand in Canberra. The first was played behind closed doors and consigned to the field in the middle of the AIS athletics track. The second was taken to McKellar Park in front of 2248 people.

Kerr was playing. Steph Catley and Clare Polkinghorne were too.

Imagine telling them a decade ago they would eventually be playing a World Cup quarter-final on home soil in front of almost 50,000 fans and, with some of the tournament heavyweights already knocked out, the Matildas are firming as a genuine chance to win it all.

"That's the dream. Everyone's here to do that, right?" Kerr said.

Football Australia needs to dream big.

Participation rates at junior levels continue to soar, but the game's hopes of captivating a fanbase depend on the Matildas and Socceroos claiming big scalps on the world stage. The challenge is to harness the excitement of the World Cup and turn it into more participants, more facilities, more funding and more bids for international tournaments.

This tournament does more than exist to inspire girls to pick up a soccer ball. The success of the Matildas coupled with that of Australia's women's cricket team bridges gaps between fans and female athletes across all codes.

They'll tell stories of growing up without female athletes to idolise, but the dial is shifting. Imagine what it could be like when given another 10 years to prosper.

"We've got the crowd behind us. We come into these games, and we want to win. We know we need to win," Raso said.

"We've got the support of the whole country, and we definitely feel it."

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