Descending on Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium for the epic match on Friday, 14 July 2023, the Matildas will take on a current top 10 FIFA Women’s World Ranking team participating in the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Matildas will train at the new Home of the Matildas at La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus for the week leading up to the match, during their pre-FIFA Women’s World Cup window.
The Home of the Matildas will be a National Centre of Excellence for aspiring female footballers and provide a lasting legacy for women’s football in Australia. The state-of-the-art facility will be the long-term training base for Football Australia’s women’s national teams with more than 600 hours of training per year.
In addition, the venue will host two Junior Matildas and two Young Matildas matches over the next two years and be the base for domestic and international courses to support women’s coaching, officiating and administration.
The facility, which includes five football fields, grandstand seating, change facilities, high performance gym, meeting rooms and a café, will double as the Victorian State Football Centre and home to Football Victoria’s administration and operations.
Grassroots community clubs will also benefit from the new facilities, with access to the centre’s pitches and community level training and programs, while La Trobe University will have access to the venue - reinforcing its standing as a leading provider of higher education in sport.
The development is supporting Football Victoria and Football Australia's Legacy ’23 target of equal representation for women in all aspects of the sport by 2027, including players, coaches, referees, administration, volunteers and supporters.
In July and August 2023, the State Football Centre will host international teams competing in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, with FIFA today announcing Jamaica will be based at the site during the group stage of the tournament while one of the teams in the Round of 16
The venue will also be used as a training base for one of the teams in the Round of 16, with Melbourne hosting two knock-out matches.
Part of the Victorian Government’s $101 million investment in the $116 million La Trobe University’s Sports Park Stage 3, the development includes the Victorian State Rugby Centre of Excellence which will provide training and match day facilities for high performance players like the Melbourne Rebels Super W team.