They are now household names. Sam Kerr, Hayley Raso, Mary Fowler, Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Kyra Cooney-Cross, and of course Mackenzie Arnold with her superhuman goalkeeping abilities.

The Tillies showed us the very best of Australia, they showed the world what we can be - diverse, inclusive, progressive, egalitarian, gutsy, determined.

Perhaps more importantly, they have raised the status not only of women’s soccer but of women’s sport. Nobody will laugh at NRLW or AFLW again. Nor should they. Why should women’s team sports be held in lesser regard just because of the gender of the players on the field? Why are they less deserving of us buying stadium tickets or watching them on telly than the men?

And now a generation of young girls who were enthralled watching the Matildas on TV screens across our country can now grow up and dream that maybe one day, with enough talent and hard work, they can have an entire country cheer them on too at a future World Cup.

#GoMatildas !!!