FIFA fever takes over Melbourne

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is taking Melbourne by storm, delivering the very best of women’s football, celebrating diversity of the competing nations, and inspiring the next generation of players.

Jamaica, Canada and Morocco are based in Melbourne throughout the tournament, and recently demonstrated their impressive preparations for the competition in a series of open to public training sessions.

The Jamaican team are training at the Home of The Matildas at La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus. The Victorian Government invested $42 million to deliver two state-of-the-art hybrid turf pitches, 3 FIFA-grade synthetic pitches, 12 change rooms, a fully-equipped gym, medical facilities, modern wet recovery areas, coaching development spaces and an 800-seat grandstand - not a bad place to train for the biggest women’s sporting event in the world.

The Matildas were the first to test out the brand-new facilities when they spent a week of training at the site in the lead-up to the competition. It’s fair to say from their reactions that they absolutely loved their new home, which will support female football in Victoria at all levels, from grassroots to our emerging elite local talent.

The team from Morocco are training at Galvin Park Reserve, Werribee and put on an inspiring show, treating onlookers to a demonstration of elite skill through drills, and taking time to meet with fans after training.

The Canadian team showed fans exactly why they’re ranked number 7 in the world during their training session at Olympic Park in Heidelberg. Fans watched training and then had the chance to get a selfie and an autograph from their favourite player.

Football Australia recently announced that ticket sales for the tournament have now exceeded 1.5 million, establishing a new benchmark for any FIFA Women’s World Cup event.

The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is bringing global visibility to elite women’s football, encouraging participation in the sport, and create a lasting legacy for the game across Australia, New Zealand and around the world.

The Victoria Government has invested a total of $9.1 million in infrastructure upgrades at Olympic Park, Heidelberg and $1 million Galvin Park, Werribee. This is in addition to more than $19.3 million invested through the World Game Facilities Fund since 2018 in infrastructure that supports community football in Victoria.