Matildas vs Uzbekistan 2024: Paris Olympics qualifiers, Michelle Heyman returns after Sam Kerr injury, news, fixtures, start time, preview

The Matildas are confident the depth in the squad will be enough to earn them qualification to the Olympics as they prepare to face Uzbekistan in a two-leg playoff for a place in Paris.

The Matildas, currently ranked 12th in the world, finished fourth in the 2023 Women’s World Cup on home soil and fourth in the Tokyo Olympics – their best-ever finish in both competitions.

The team is intent on not just qualifying for a fifth Games, but are eyeing a first-ever medal in Paris when the competition kicks off in late July.

But first they have to get past world number 47 Uzbekistan, with the two teams meeting on Saturday night in Tashkent before the second leg in Melbourne next Wednesday.

While the Matildas are overwhelming favourites against the surprise package of Asian qualifying, there are big questions over the team’s attacking make-up given the absences of captain Sam Kerr and talented winger Cortnee Vine.

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Kerr tore her ACL last month at a Chelsea training camp in Morocco, and will be ruled out for the remainder of the club season – and almost certainly the Olympics given the typical nine-month minimum recovery time for a major anterior cruciate ligament rehabilitation.

Vine, meanwhile, withdrew from the qualifiers for personal reasons.

Vine scored the winning penalty against France in the quarter-final shootout at last year’s World Cup, shooting her to instant stardom.

And though she hasn’t been in top form this A-League Women season, the 25-year-old has still amassed five goals and three assists in 13 matches so far and remains one of the Matildas’ best wingers.

Replacing Vine in the squad is 24-year-old Western Sydney Wanderers striker Sophie Harding, who has surged into