The CommBank Matildas will play their final game of the Cup of Nations 2023, taking on Jamaica at McDonald Jones Stadium tonight (7:10 pm AEDT).
One last game remains in the 2023 Cup of Nations, with Australia facing Jamaica on the final matchday. This will be the second meeting between the two sides, with the last fixture seeing Australia defeat the Reggae Girlz 4-1 at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in Grenoble, France.
Australia will return to McDonald Jones Stadium after playing in Newcastle back in November 2021, recording a 1-1 draw with World Number 1, USA.
Squad News
CommBank Matildas head coach Tony Gustavsson talked in the pre-match press conference about the squad rotation for the final game of the Cup of Nations.
"In World Cup, we wouldn't reveal anything in terms of player availability. What I can say is that I will get some answers tonight after this training and then I'll work from that in tomorrow's game," he explained.
"We are in a training tournament mode and recovery is key when it's a lot of games in a short, short time, we need to maximize the recovery."
"It's been all the recovery strategies, you can imagine. Hopefully, we'll see that on the pitch tomorrow that we have recovered well."
Australia's win against Spain, the first-ever win over La Roja, score three different goalscorers finding the back of the net in the fixture.
Gustavsson made two changes from the side that opened the Cup of Nations campaign with a 4-0 win over Czechia for the game against Spain, with Clare Hunt making her first international start, replacing Aivi Luik. While Caitlin Foord replaced Mary Fowler in the starting line-up.
Hayley Raso and Clare Polkinghorne sit at the top of the golden boot race, with both finding the back of the net twice so far in the tournament.
Our Opponent
Jamaica's coach Lorne Donaldson named a 24-player squad for the tournament, with the captain and leading goalscorer Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw withdrawing from the squad due to personal reasons.
The Reggae Girlz squad features some new faces, along with 16 players that helped the side qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2023 during the 2022 CONCACAF Women's Championship.
Donaldson has opted to rotate his goalkeepers in Jamaica's first two games, Tottenham Hotspur's Rebecca Spencer started in Jamaica's 3-0 loss to Spain. While Sydney Schneider was named between the sticks for Czechia's 3-2 win, Schneider was more familiar with the opponent for this match, recently signing with Sparta Prague in Czechia.
Jamaica is still looking to pick up their first point of the tournament, falling just short against Czechia with the UEFA side scoring a 90th-minute winner to beat the side 3-2.
The side's last game saw Kameron Simmonds score her first senior goal for her country, finding the back of the net in the second half after Drew Spence found her unmarked in the box.
Opta Facts
● This will be the second women’s international between Australia and Jamaica; the Matildas won their inaugural meeting 4-1 at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup – their joint-biggest win in the history of the tournament (also 4-1 v Ghana in 2007).
● Australia has won their last six women’s internationals on the bounce and kept a clean sheet across the first halves of the last four games in that span; the last time the Matildas went longer without conceding a first-half goal was a seven-match span from November 2019 to March 2020.
● Australia (23%) and Jamaica (20%) have the best shot conversion rates of any teams in the Cup of Nations 2023; indeed, they have both outperformed their Expected Goals by more than any other teams in the campaign (Australia +3.7 and Jamaica +1.3).
● Hayley Raso (Australia) has been directly involved in seven goals in her last five international appearances (3 goals, 4 assists), including at least one in each of those five games; she was directly involved in just one goal in her four internationals prior.
● Mackenzie Arnold (Australia) has made six saves in the Cup of Nations, the most of any goalkeeper, and has the highest save percentage (75%) of any keeper to have made multiple saves this tournament.
See the Jamaican squad for the Cup of Nations
For all the latest news and information regarding the two-games series, stay updated via the official CommBank Matildas website.
CommBank Matildas v Jamaica
Date: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, NSW
Kick-Off: 7.10 pm kick-off AEDT
Broadcast: 10 Bold, 10 Play and Paramount+
Tickets: Buy tickets!