Mary Fowler

When Matildas captain Sam Kerr was forced to miss much of the 2023 FIFA World Cup due to injury, young star Mary Fowler stepped into her shoes – both as a goal-scorer and as the face of the team.

The Matildas’ run to the semi-finals of the World Cup captured the imagination of Australians and Mary was front and centre.

She was the second-most Googled person in Australia in 2023 – behind Sam. She scored against Canada in the group stage, delivered a masterful assist for Caitlin Foord to open the scoring against Denmark in the round of 16 and converted a crucial penalty against France – her first-ever penalty shootout.

Mary still struggles to wrap her head around the success of the Matildas and how Australia embraced them during the World Cup.

“It’s been an incredible year, it’s hard to put into words how big it’s been … we were very lucky,” she said. “The whole World Cup has been an amazing experience for me – I learned in that tournament to have fun and create memories and I think that’s exactly what happened.

“It gives me goosebumps when I remember moments from those matches – seeing everyone there and hearing the crowd.”

As the popularity of the Matildas has grown in the past few years, Mary has been nominated for several awards, earnt a host of big-brand endorsements, graced the cover of Marie Claire magazine for their Woman of the Year edition and was honoured with a Barbie doll of her likeness.

It has been a meteoric rise since 2018, when the youngster from Cairns made her international debut at the Tournament of Nations at just 15, becoming the fifth youngest Matilda in history.

In the following year Mary was selected to the Matildas 2019 World Cup squad.

After making her professional debut for Adelaide United with sister Ciara, Mary quickly grabbed the attention of European heavyweight clubs and began trials with Chelsea, West Ham and Manchester City.

She eventually elected to sign with French side Montpellier HSC and continued to develop against some of the best footballers in the world.

In the 2020-21 season Mary was a regular feature for Montpellier with the teenager earning multiple starting roles, as well as showing a knack to put the ball in the back of the net.

At Tokyo 2020 Mary 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.

Her left foot strike from outside the box to the top right corner in extra time gave Australia a 3-2 advantage on Great Britain, in the Matildas' eventual 4-3 quarter-final win.

Mary said the Tokyo Games motivated her to become a better player.

“I mean those Olympics were amazing for me,” she said. “I’ll always look back and get goosebumps thinking about it, because it was such a childhood dream to go and compete in the Olympics.

“So I look back and it’s a very special feeling – and being able to get a goal. And although we didn’t place in the top three where we’d like to, we did have a very good run at the Olympics.

“That team feeling as well, it fuelled a lot of my motivation to want to be a better player and want to be in that national team consistently and get more game time. Because I just loved that feeling being there with the team and being at such a big tournament."

In 2021, Mary was named to ESPN's 21 under 21, an international list of footballers representing the next generation of talent.

The following year, she signed a four-year contract with English powerhouse Manchester City and is now in her second year with the club.

Mary scored the winning goal for the Matildas in a friendly against France in the week before the 2023 World Cup, played in Australia and New Zealand.

She went on to be one of the most dominant players at the tournament, despite missing one game due to concussion.

A few months later, when the Matildas sealed their place at the Paris Olympics with home and away wins over Uzbekistan in February 2024 – 3-0 in Tashkent and 10-0 in Melbourne – Mary finished with two goals, an assist and her 50th Matildas cap.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Mary 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.