Matildas fans were banked up for hundreds of metres in massive queues outside Optus Stadium just minutes before kick-off on Sunday afternoon. The Matildas’ Olympic qualifying 8-0 rout of the Philippines was their 10th-straight sold out game on home soil, with 59,155 people cramming into the Perth Stadium to watch both Caitlin Foord and Sam Kerr score hat-tricks in the Aussies’ masterclass.
Queuing chaos outside Optus Stadium before Matildas clash. But the crowd didn’t find its full voice until after kick-off, with fans stuck outside the stadium not long before the first whistle blew. It took just 15 minutes for Mary Fowler to put the first ball into the back of the net as fans rushed to their seats. There is no suggestion that the fault was Perth Stadium’s for the mix-up.