Sarina Wiegman has conundrums to solve before semi, including return of Sam Kerr

Matildas mania is sweeping across Australia, much in the same way Lionesses fever gripped the UK back in July 2022.

There's something unique about playing the privileged role of party host - driving the need to be the last one standing, waving at the door as final stragglers take their leave.

England basked in the glow of European host nation last summer, and now Australia are rising to their very own occasion, charged by the desire to please an expectant, turned frenzied, home following.

Such is the hysteria, phone footage emerged from an Emirates flight to Sydney last week, in which all passengers - bar one who had their in-flight entertainment foolishly locked on Lord of the Rings - celebrated from the skies as striker Cortnee Vine settled a tense penalty shootout against France in the quarter-finals.

Excitement has been simmering steadily ever since, but will likely reach a crescendo on Wednesday, as Australia take on Sarina Wiegman's England in Sydney for a place in Sunday's World Cup final against Spain.

Most England-Australia bouts have a multitude of sub-plots. Of course, against the backdrop of the entire sporting landscape, the rivalry shared between the two nations is fraught. England and Australia have collided in the worlds of cricket, rugby, and netball, to name a few, and all contain famous feuds, littered with conflict and contrition, spanning several decades.

The same cannot be said of footballing heritage, however, where the English-Aussie spectacle is a new phenomenon.

"I don't think we're losing momentum; I think it's building," Wiegman told reporters after losing to Australia back in April, her first and only defeat as England manager, 37 games into the job.

That fixture was nothing more than a friendly, but