Three years after we first launched the award-winning Football Belongs podcast series, Matilda Emma Checker is our guest and author Fiona Crawford reprises her role in this special bonus episode.

They join series inspiration and author John Didulica and our host David Davutovic as they discuss the revolution that has swallowed Australia throughout the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™. After an earlier episode of Football Belongs about a women's match that never happened - this time we are talking about a match that did happen: Canada v Australia, in Melbourne on 31st July 2023, as well as:

• The (very-much-welcomed) excitement capturing those who would otherwise have looked past the game
• Why the Matildas have emerged as a universally-loved group of players
• The incredible legacy this World Cup is creating - and how we leverage this moving forward
• Can we finally say that football is Australia's national sport?

Edited by Lucas Perry, Optus Sport.

Watch every match of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™ live and on-demand on Optus Sport.

Listen to Optus Sport's award-winning limited series: Football Belongs, charting the cultural threads of Australian society through the lens of nine football matches:

Acast: https://play.acast.com/s/football-belongs

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2AzBek8ub2oEsWLYHWetg7

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/football-belongs-australias-football-identity-by-optus/id1543067162

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The incredible limited series from Optus Sport, Football Belongs, hosted by David Davutovic and authored by John Didulica, and featuring a host of prominent sporting personalities in this country, has been nominated for two awards in the upcoming 2021 Australian Podcast Awards:

• Best Sports Podcast
• Best Indigenous Podcast

If you haven't yet taken the time to soak up the depth of this series, here is a short taste of what you can hear throughout. Or, if you are ready to rip in, click here to listen: https://play.acast.com/s/football-belongs

Football Belongs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou, Matildas great Kate Gill and journalist Francis Leach are our special guests, as we close out the Football Belongs podcast series.

They join series inspiration John Didulica and our host David Davutovic in a passionate discussion on:

• Looking forward to the future of the game in Australia
• The event that could create a new path

How will the game and its people earn a legitimate place in Australian life? Can football become 'mainstream'?

If you haven't already, we urge you to visit Optus Sport's digital platforms to read the chapters - authored by John Didulica - that tell a deeper story, of which this podcast barely scratches the surface. Click here: https://sport.optus.com.au/category/articles

Produced & edited by Lucas Perry, Optus Sport.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.