Women's World Cup 2023: The green and gold revolution capturing the hearts of a sports-obsessed nation

It's hard, when witnessing such a joyful coming-of-age story for a sport and a nation, not to get swept up in this exhilarating green and gold revolution.

There is only one show in Australia: it’s on the front page, back page, and at the top of the hour. The Women's World Cup.

As the behemoth AFL and NRL seasons reach their business ends, relegated a few rungs down the running order, there’s a new sporting obsession in this sports-obsessed country.

It's less a sports team and more a movement. Meet the Matildas, not so much waltzing but relentlessly hammering their way into a country's consciousness, game changers in every sense of the word.

It's 30 years since Margaret Rossiter coined the phrase the 'Matilda Effect' to describe a systematic bias whereby a woman is ignored in favour of a man, who ends up taking all the credit for her ground-breaking work.

The new Matilda Effect is challenging every stereotype and uniting a nation in a common cause, perhaps not seen since Cathy Freeman lined up in the Olympic 400m final 23 years ago.

The Matildas' rollercoaster penalty shoot-out win over France, setting up a FIFA Women's World Cup semi-final with England in Sydney, was watched by Australia's largest TV audience in two decades.

There is every chance Wednesday's match will erase the 2003 Rugby World Cup final, when England narrowly defeated hosts Australia, from the record books too.

There are many footballs here — rugby league is football, Australian Rules is footy, and football is, well, soccer.

This spherical ball outpost — where hardcore fans watch matches in the dead of night, broadcast from the other side of the world — is now, briefly, in the heart of the action.

New supporters who wouldn't know a counter press from a trouser