Sam Kerr wants to play at the next Women’s World Cup, but Matildas faces a mass exodus of aging players who made history in the 2023 tournament
Sam Kerr wants to play at the next Women’s World Cup, but Matildas faces a mass exodus of aging players who made history in the 2023 tournament
Sam Kerr plans to be a part of the Matildas’ next win for the Women’s World Championship.
But the inspirational captain isn’t sure how many of her teammates would be there for her fifth tournament.
Lydia Williams (35), Clare Polkinghorne (34), Aivi Luik (38), Kyah Simon (32), Tameka Yallop (32) and Katrina Gorry (31) are unlikely to be there.
Kerr (29), Steph Catley (29), Caitlin Foord (28), Alanna Kennedy (28), Hayley Raso (28) and Emily van Egmond (30) will be at the end of their careers or retired in four years time .
The captain has no intention of being the latter.
Sam Kerr was out through injury at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and is hoping to return in 2027, but knows some teammates will not be there
“I hope to be here. “I’m only 29. I think most of us will still be here if we get the chance,” Kerr told reporters.
“We have to play at our club.” We have to play well and stay injury-free. There may be a few more babies. I don’t know. Four years is a long time but I hope the core group is still together.
“Obviously there will be people who come into the team and take someone’s position and people who might not want to continue playing, but at the moment I haven’t heard any talk of anyone retiring.”
“As long as there are 22 spots, everyone here will fight for four years.”
Kyah Simon is one of the Matildas’ best but was gruesomely ruled out of the game in Australia after suffering a knee injury. She is among the players who could be retired before the 2027 tournament
Katrina Gorry will be 31 in 2027 and may be fighting for her spot, while veteran defender Clare Polkinghorne will be 34
Incredible World Cup debuts by Mary Fowler (20), Kyra Cooney-Cross (21) and Clare Hunt (24) give reason to believe.
“Obviously we have a lot of young players on our team like Mary (Fowler) and Ellie (Carpenter) and you think we’re in a really good position here,” Kerr said.
“If you look at the other end (of the age spectrum) you think we might lose a few and that’s sad but that’s sport.”
“There’s probably 10 or 12 players that we’ve never heard of that will be in the next World Cup and that’s exciting.”
“At this World Cup there are a few players who will probably not be in the Matildas team anymore. They would have retired, but you never know. That’s the amazing thing about sport and why this tournament is special.
“It only happens every four years and the teams are always changing.” “Women’s football is changing faster than people could have ever imagined.”
The 2027 World Cup will be hosted by either Brazil, a joint bid by the USA and Mexico, a joint bid by Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, or South Africa.
But first, Kerr will focus on Saturday night’s third-place play-off against Sweden.
“We wanted to leave a legacy and capture that moment for 10 or 20 years.” “I think we’ve already done that, but to win a bronze medal and bring a World Championships medal to this country would be great,” she said.
“It really feels like we brought the nation together through football.” “Some people might have thought we were crazy if we had said a year ago that this was going to happen.”