Matildas v Taiwan: Olympic qualifying – live

12 Mins: Big chance! Another corner from the Matildas, this time swung in by Catley from the right and onto the head of an open Kennedy, only for the defender’s header to sail wide of the target.

11 Mins: Cooney-Cross sends in the corner and Hunt and Kennedy both fly, with the latter perhaps putting the former off a header that misses the target.

10 Mins: Almost all of the Matildas early attacks are coming down that left flank. Fowler and Foord combine again and the latter wins the first corner of the game. Cooney-Cross to take.

9 Mins: Foord splits the gap between two defenders and drives in a shot that Ssu-Yu punches away. Kerr attempts to get onto the rebound but does so from an offside position.

9 Mins: Fowler tries to slip Foord in off the shoulder of a defender but the connection just isn’t there.

8 Mins: Gustavsson is up off the bench and gesticulating as he barks instructions to his side as they carry the ball forward, once again faced by a wall of white shorts.

6 Mins: Foord floats a cross into the box but it’s claimed by Ssu-Yu.

Taiwan are sitting very, very deep and ceding possession to the Matildas early doors.

5 Mins: Gorry works her tway to the top of the box and lets loose with a shot but it’s straight at Ssu-Yu, who claims it.

4 Mins: Though most known in the national setup as a holding midfielder, Wheeler has started the game at right back for tonight’s game – she’s played as a wingback for Everton in England – but is inverting into the midfield when the Matildas are in possession.

On the opposite side, Catley is also getting forward with regularity.

3 Mins: Fowler plays the ball to Foord on the flank but she’s blocked as she tries to force her way into the Taiwanese penalty area.

2 Mins: The Matildas force a high turnover, Raso and Kerr attempt to combine on their way into the area but it rolls away from the latter and is claimed by the keeper.

1 Min: Foord gets down the left before sending it central, but the visitors are able to repel the opening attack.

Kickoff!

National anthems of the two sides are completed and the two break towards their huddles and final preparations as Kerr and Hsiang-Huei conduct the coin toss.

Players are in the Perth Oval tunnel waiting to be unleashed. Can report that once again the Football Australia staff on hand have been diligent in ensuring that every child walking out with the two sides will do so wearing a sponsor-emblazoned T-shirt.

After starting in a false nine role against Iran, Sayer is forced to make do with another bench role this evening – albeit one would think that the side will be itching to get her a maiden international goal if/when she does get on the park.

The 21-year-old has a lot of fans in the national setup but she’s also just as much a force off it: studying at Stanford University in the United States as possessing a passion for bioethics.

Here’s Jo Khan with more.

Tunes update from the ground. I hope everyone made sure to rise for the people’s Australian national anthem.

We’re just minutes away from kickoff at Perth Oval

The Matildas may have already secured progression to the next phase of Olympic qualification but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to play for. Maybe.

At present, the formula for determining who will play who in the final phase of Olympic qualification hasn’t been revealed by the AFC. That means the Matildas have no way of knowing which of the three group winners or the best second-placed finisher of the three groups they will face in a home-and-away playoff next year with a spot in Paris on the line.

As indicated by the strong starting XI, word from the camp is that the goal for this evening is to put themselves in the best possible position even in the face of uncertainty – which means another three points and as many goals as possible.

Australia’s goal difference of +10 is the best of any side across the three groups — one clear of South Korea, who play China in their final group game later tonight, and Japan, who have since equalled Australia by taking a 1-0 lead in their in-progress game against Vietnam.

In other results from around AFC Olympic qualification today, the Philippines downed Iran 1-0 to secure their second win of the campaign — previously defeating Taiwan 4-1 on the opening day — while North Korea cruised to a 7-0 shellacking of Thailand.

For the Philippines, their one-goal margin of victory leaves them on six points but with a goal difference of -4.

Their hopes of advancing to the next phase of Olympic qualifying as the best second-placed finisher in the three groups will now rely on South Korea and China drawing in their meeting in Group B and Vietnam and Uzbekistan failing to beat Japan (likely) and India (unlikely) in the final games of Group C.

Japan against Vietnam is currently underway with the former up 1-0, while kickoff in the other fixtures is later tonight.

Sam Kerr collects accolades for fun these days, named Asian Player of the Year overnight, and she added further recognition to her stockpile yesterday with a second-place finish in the Ballon d’Or Féminin, behind only Spain and Barcelona star Aitana Bonmatí.

Off the back of a strong World Cup, Hayley Raso came 17th in the vote.

Coming off the back of what was statistically her quietest season yet for Chelsea, as well as a limited role at the World Cup due to injury, it perhaps came as something of a surprise that Kerr polled her highest ever finish this year.

Then again, given that Foord didn’t even make the clearly World Cup influenced final rankings, there were far bigger injustices to worry about in this year’s poll.

One neat little subplot that’s continued to develop over the course of the past week has been the future of Gustavsson, with the rumours surrounding him and the vacant United States women job refusing to go away.

On Saturday, The Athletic’s Meg Linehan reported the Matildas coach was one of three names atop the shortlist of potential candidates for the prestigious USWNT role, the Swede apparently alongside Australian-born Juventus Women coach Joe Montemurro and OL Reign boss Laura Harvey atop U.S. Soccer’s wish list.

Gustavsson, a two-time World Cup winning assistant with the USWNT, frequently speaks of his passion for coaching Australia and how he identifies with their “why” but has also stopped short of categorically putting the rumours to bed – repeating almost word-for-word a call for more resources from the World Cup when quizzed on the matter during these qualifiers.

Given how good the Matildas looked against the Philippines and how it hinted at what the future of this squad might look like, it would certainly be a twist if it also represented one of Gustavsson’s final bows with the side.

There’s been much made of the ‘Matildas Effect’ coming out of the World Cup, and it’s shown no signs of abating this week in Perth. All three of these Olympic qualifiers have been sellouts – the game against the Philippines doing so twice, in fact, selling out Optus Stadium after initially exhausting its allocation at Perth Oval.

Here’s Jo Khan again.

For Taiwan, victory on the scoreboard this evening is probably beyond the reasonable bounds of expectation. However, for Hiu-Ming, there are other ways his side can take something from their performance this evening in a game that should have more eyes on it than any other they’ll have played across the past week – especially eyes from local A-League Women clubs.

“I would like to get this chance to hope that, if there is any club in Australia, if you think the players from Chinese Taipei may have a little bit of potential to play in your league, just try to take a look,” Hiu-Ming said in his pre-game press conference.

“Because our local league development is not yet as professional as Australia or in Europe. I have these hopes and expectations. Results [are] short-term, but development is long-term. For me as a coach, I would like the girls to have more chances to explore, to travel abroad and to make their ambitions inside their minds.”

Here’s the first of Jo Khan’s yarns from the build-up to this, shared not just because it reinforces my contention about the pairing of Foord and Kerr up top being very good.

If you want to revisit Sunday’s win, here’s Jo Khan’s report to give you an insight into the best bits.

“Through a brooding sky the clouds parted directly above the turf as if to say, “Matildas, it’s time to shine.” And so they did, with unforgiving ferocity against the Philippines, delivering an 8-0 thrashing in front of an adoring crowd of nearly 60,000 as hat-tricks from Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord and another a level of class from Mary Fowler and Clare Wheeler put the Matildas that bit closer to 2024 Olympic qualification.”

Jo’s been in Perth throughout these qualifiers, so I’m going to be sharing a few of her yarns from out West before kickoff.

There was a lot to be excited about in Sunday’s heavy win over the Philippines if you were a Matildas fan, perhaps most of all the move to pair Foord with Kerr in a central position in attack and play Mary Fowler out wide on the wing. The former pairing harkened back to what had the Matildas looking so strong during the lead into the World Cup, with the added wrinkle of a maturing and in-form Fowler out wide.

The Matildas have traditionally struggled to break down sides that have sat back and made them take the initiative in possession rather than play on the counter themselves – the team’s most notable performance at the World Cup, a 4-0 win over Canada, came with just 39% of the ball – and there were signs of that against Iran.

But Sunday’s performance (again, even accounting for the opposition) gave an insight into what this group of highly talented players can achieve.

Seeing they can produce something similar tonight is one of the better reasons to tune in.

Starting Lineups

Preamble

Joey Lynch