Canberra watching Matildas lose to England in World Cup semi-final at Garema Place

More than 3000 people gathered at Garema Place to watch Australia take on England in the women's World Cup semi-final.

Before the game started, nine-year-olds Saoirse and April danced around with a Matildas scarf as a DJ blasted music through the square.

Saoirse loves the Matildas so much, she wants to start playing soccer.

Couple Tracey Sligar and John Tite were jovial and teasing, sitting on chairs before the game started.

Ms Sligar was sporting Australian merch but Mr Tite and his two children bravely turned up wearing an England beanie.

"Someone will go home crying, and it will be him," Ms Sligar said, confidently.

Before long, hundreds more people had gathered and Mr Tite's red and white hat was quickly absorbed into the sea of green and gold.

The mood was muted in the first half of the game, a sigh settling over the crowd when the Lionesses' Ella Toone scored a goal.

ANU soccer star (or just player) Robbie Matthews-Lane, 21, thought the girls could come back in the second half.

"It's a massive crowd, so super keen and excited to be here," he said.

"England unfortunately scored a pretty good goal, to be fair, in the first half, but I feel like we can definitely get back and equalise it, if not score a few more.

"I feel like our heads have dropped a bit, but I feel like we can pull through in the second half."

Spirits indeed lifted in the second half, when Sam Kerr equalised the score with a history-making, stunning goal.

Canberrans watched her dribbling the ball attentively, erupting into deafening cheers as the ball hit the net.

They rose to their feet, waved flags and scarfs, hugged strangers and cried for the first time that night.

The atmosphere picked up after the impressive goal, but exaltation turned into tension, disappointment and eventually, resignation.

England soon took back the lead, with striker Lauren Hemp sneaking a goal in. And then the Lionesses scored again and cheers turned to tears.

If anything, the capital was at least let down easy with little chance of the Matildas redeeming themselves.

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As quickly as it formed, the heaving crowd dispersed, each spectator making their way to beds across the city.

If you looked closely enough, you might have seen a man and a woman - her in a green and gold beanie, him in red and white - walking home, arm in arm.

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