Matildas give Australia first magic moment of 2023 World Cup - ESPN

SYDNEY — There was no Sam Kerr moment a la Cathy Freeman at the Sydney Olympics, as had been built up for weeks in the lead-up to the Matildas' opening match of the Women's World Cup, but nothing could dampen the spirits or quiet the noise from the thousands of Australia fans as they packed out Stadium Australia for the co-hosts' 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland.

Not since Freeman's 400m gold-medal run at the 2000 Games has Sydney or the nation been so captivated by a women's sporting event, with 75,784 fans filing into the stadium, some in green but many more in gold, with no doubt millions more glued to television sets around the world.

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The opening night of the largest women's sporting event ever lived up to the hype and came close to eclipsing anything that had been seen on Australian — and perhaps New Zealand — soil in close to a decade, with a visceral buzz of excitement surrounding the stadium more than two hours out from kick-off.

It all started days if not months earlier, though. On the night before the opener it was announced that more Matildas jerseys had been purchased in the lead-up to the tournament than Socceroos shirts throughout the entire men's World Cup last year. Meanwhile, months ago, the original host ground, the Sydney Football Stadium, had to be swapped out for the much larger Stadium Australia with unprecedented demand seeing Australia's opening-night tickets sold out within days of going on sale. It could even be said the hype started 1,118 days ago, when FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced that Australia would jointly host the World Cup.

While it seemed like the day would