Poletti 
Annmarie De Uriarte and Ireland captain Heather Jameson in action at the IFCPF World Cup. Photo: Mark Avellino/Football Australia
Following their 4-2 defeat in the 2022 IFCPF World Cup Final at the hands of the USA, the ParaMatildas will have a chance to right the wrongs of that tournament as they secured qualification to the Final over the weekend.
The Aussies continued their undefeated run through the group stage in Salou, Spain, defeating the USA 3-1 on Sunday morning (AEDT) and Ireland 9-2 on Monday morning (AEDT).
The two wins over the weekend leave Australia as the only undefeated team in the women’s tournament with their 6-0 victory over Japan to open the tournament.
It was the first defeat for the USA at the IFCPF World Cup, having won the 2022 tournament undefeated (four wins, one draw, including the final) and opening the 2024 tournament with a 9-2 victory over Ireland before the loss against Australia in their second group stage game.
Prior to the tournament, the team identified the match with the USA as a key game in the tournament, in part because of the loss in the 2022 final, with Stirton calling the victory a bloody good win.
“I’ve still got goosebumps and full of excitement. I’m really happy,” she said.
“We went in knowing it was going to be a tough game and we’ve worked two years after a World Cup loss in the final to them.
“It hurt the girls a lot and they were just really set. Their minds were ready to go and I think we saw the patience on the pitch which was really good to see.
“They’re [USA] a very good footballing country and I think it shows a little respect too. The respect is shown both ways now.”
Coming into the tournament, Ireland were a real unknown side making their first tournament appearance, but got off to a flier, defeating Denmark 20-2 before losing to the USA and rebounding with a 4-2 win over Japan.
Australia opened the scoring through goalkeeper and captain Katelyn Smith from a free kick seven minutes in, before Ireland’s captain Heather Jameson leveled it in the 10th minute.
The ParaMatildas then began to dominate the game, taking a 5-1 half-time lead, before a 9-2 final score with goals to Smith (2), Annmarie De Uriarte (4), Carly Salmon (1), and Georgia Beikoff (2).
Stirton said that the side stuck to the game plan and played really well, before praising their opponents.
“We didn’t know what to expect and they’ve been really solid throughout the whole World Cup and have got some really key players there,” she said.
“Those key players showed us what they’ve got today with a couple of goals, so definitely a scary team to come [up] against and [I’m] really looking forward to seeing them grow over the years.”
With Ireland having now finished their four group stage matches with six points, Australia can not fall out of the top two, regardless of results, and have locked up a place in the Final, and a point against Denmark would be enough to see them top the group.
Stirton praised her sides performance throughout the tournament ahead of the game against Denmark on Tuesday (AEDT).
“I can’t fault the team’s performance at the moment. The girls have been working super hard for this,” she said.
“[It’s been] two years in the making and we’ve fixed the issues that we had previously and [we’re] onto the final now as well.”