Will the Matildas Progress to the Final 16?

After losing to Nigeria in their second game of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, Australia potentially face the daunting challenge of a must win matchup on Monday.

The Matildas are sitting third out of four in Group B, behind both Nigeria and Canada, but ahead of Ireland.

A win over Canada on Monday will secure a top two place in the group and ensure the Matildas move into the next stage.

The Matildas began their 2023 World Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over Ireland last week, a result which was more hard-fought than experts predicted. 

Australia overcame the late withdrawal of Sam Kerr, banking a much-needed three points courtesy of a penalty from Stephanie Catley.

Thursday night’s clash with Nigeria in Group B saw a Kerr-less Matilda’s side start red hot favourites on the Betfair Exchange odds of $1.44, with Nigeria $8.40.

What followed was a five-goal thriller with massive in-play fluctuations. 

After Emily Van Egmond netted in first half stoppage time, the Matilda’s reached an in-play low of $1.19 while Nigeria were pushed out to a high of $55.00. In the sixth minute of added time, Nigeria would equalise through Uchenna Kanu, with their odds dropping to $9.00 at the interval. Still very backable given the 1-1 score line.

The second half saw Australia continue to dominate the possession stats, as 13 shots were attempted by the girls in Green & Gold. They would ultimately be too wayward, and this proved costly in the 65^th minute when Nigeria took the lead via an errant corner.

Osinachi Ohale was on hand to tap in from the goal mouth scramble seeing Nigeria reach evens on the Betfair Exchange for the first time in the match. Some poor defending allowed Nigeria to score a third, ending the Matildas chances of winning the matchup and consequently negatively impacting their qualification status.

Now destiny awaits!

Monday night will see an epic double header between Australia vs Canada with Nigeria and Ireland facing off at the same time, with the permutations significant.

The Matilda’s need to finish Top 2 in Group B to qualify to the knockout stages,with the hosts currently third. As such they need to either win against Canada, or draw and hope that Nigeria lose to Ireland.

The Matilda’s are currently $2.42 on the Betfair Exchange for their crunch clash vs Canada.

An exciting Monday night awaits with millions set to tune in.

If Australia is to win their way through, they will have certainly earned it!