Caitlin Foord

The Matildas’ run to the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup in 2023 captured the imagination of Australians and gave women’s sport in the country a massive shot in the arm.

But for Caitlin Foord, memories of the tournament are tinged with disappointment.

Caitlin was among the Matildas’ best players in the World Cup. She was on fire in the group stage rout of Canada and scored in the round of 16 match against Denmark. And she nailed the Matildas’ first penalty in the quarter-final shootout against France.

But she still believes the Matildas could have gone further.

“It might sound crazy to say, but I think a lot of the girls will agree there’s still a lot of disappointment to have been so close,” Caitlin said. “Yes, we made the semi-finals and finished fourth.

“There’s no worse place to finish than fourth – being so close and leaving empty-handed. I guess it hurt. It was the second time we did it [after the Tokyo Olympics] and we felt like we deserved more. I just feel like it was a massive opportunity lost.”

Caitlin has been a key player for the Matildas since she was first brought into the squad as a 16-year-old in 2011 and made her debut in a friendly against New Zealand, scoring a goal to help Australia register a 3-0 win.

At the 2011 World Cup in Germany Caitlin started two of Australia’s first three matches from the right back position.

In the Matildas' quarter-final clash against Sweden Caitlin was moved to the midfield, however this change could not save the Australians from elimination as they were knocked out 3-1.

Despite the quarter-final exit, Caitlin was crowned the tournament’s best young player and became the youngest player to ever receive the award at a World Cup.

Four years later she was named as a forward in the Matildas' 2015 World Cup squad. Caitlin played every minute of the tournament before Australia were eventually eliminated by Japan in the quarter-final stage.

The following year Caitlin was selected for her first Olympic Games in Rio. She scored a crucial goal in Australia’s 2-2 draw with Germany, prior to Australia’s quarter-final defeat to hosts Brazil.

Caitlin was selected to her third consecutive World Cup squad in 2019, where she played in all four of the Matildas’ matches.

The No.9 scored a goal to help defeat Brazil 3-2 in the group stages, after trailing 2-0 earlier in the match. Australia was eventually eliminated by Norway in the round of 16 after a penalty shootout.

Caitlin has won two W-League Premierships and Championships, and has since made the move overseas to link up with Arsenal FC. She improved dramatically over her first four seasons at Arsenal, averaging a goal every two starts – an impressive achievement considering she was often deployed off the left wing.

At Tokyo 2020 Caitlin and the Matildas made all of Australia proud in putting together a historic achievement. Their fourth-place finish, which was nearly a podium finish after a 4-3 loss to the USA in the bronze medal game, is the highest ever finish by the Matildas at an Olympic Games.

She was a goal-scorer in the bronze medal match and provided a goal assist for captain Sam Kerr to get her record-breaking 48th goal for the Matildas.

In April 2022, Caitlin played her 100th match for Australia in a 2-1 win over New Zealand.

At the 2023 World Cup, played in Australia and New Zealand, Caitlin was forced to accept more responsibility with Sam missing much of the tournament through injury. Caitlin was happy to step up, playing a vital role in attack and using her experience to help the Matildas ride the rollercoaster of emotion that the World Cup brought.

Caitlin was again on duty for the Matildas when they qualified for the Paris Olympics in a two-leg series against Uzbekistan in February 2024.

Brought on as a substitute in the first leg in Tashkent, she scored in the 86th minute as the Matildas scored a 3-0 win in freezing conditions.

Five days later in front of 54,120 fans in Melbourne, Caitlin was in the starting line-up and was again among the scorers as Australia decisively defeated Uzbekistan 10-0.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Caitlin and the Matildas faced Germany, Zambia and the USA in a tough Group B.

A tournament-opening 3-0 loss to Germany was followed by a dramatic 11-goal thriller against Zambia, where the Matildas came back from 5-2 down to win 6-5. Facing a must-win scenario against the USA to stay alive, the Matildas' tournament ended on another 3-0 loss.