However, midfielder Jo Peters believes Australia is now in the box seat for a successful Cup.

“We’ll be disappointed if we don’t make the semis,” she told au.fourfourtwo.com after the draw was announced in China.

The Matildas have been drawn in their group against Norway, ranked three in the world, Canada 10 and Ghana 48. Australia is currently ranked 14 in the world (fourth in Asia).

The draw means the Aussie girls have avoided the big three of host nation China, reigning champions Germany and perennial power USA.

“It wasn’t what I expected. We were hoping for either USA, England or Argentina but it’s obviously very different,” added Peters.

“No game is easy, but the positive thing is that Norway and Canada have a similar style of play as Canada has a Norwegian coach.”

The pairing with Ghana is also an interesting draw given the Matildas have faced the “unpredictable” Africans at the last two World Cups.

“We’re destined to rewrite the books I think this time,” says Peters, 28, of a side they’ve failed to beat at World Cup level.

“They’re so unpredictable the Africans. Overall, we’re really confident and we’re not intimidated by the other teams and their styles.”

A number of Matildas gathered together in Bondi tonight to watch the draw live on a webcast.

One of them was attacking defender Heather Garriock, who believes the Aussies can sneak through the draw if they avoid being paired with Group B in the quarter finals (following the group stage), which features the North Koreans, USA and Nigeria.

“We’re similar to the Socceroos as we’re the dark horses. So yes, semis are our goal. Ghana is a hard nation to play...it’s going to be very interesting,” added Garriock, 24.

She also pointed out the fact that the Matildas are now very much an Asian football nation. “We’re used to playing Asian nations over the last 15-20 games, so we’ll maybe need to play against some European opposition in the lead up to the World Cup.”


The Australians qualified for the World Cup by finishing runners-up at last year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Adelaide when they lost on penalties in the final against China.

Australia will open their campaign against Ghana on September 12 in Hangzhou, followed by the match against Norway on September 15 in the same city before the final group match against Canada on September 19 in Chengdu.

The top two teams in the group will progress to the quarter finals and meet the top two teams of Group D which features China, Denmark, Brazil and New Zealand.

Group A contains Germany, Japan, England and Argentina. Group B features USA, Korea DPR, Sweden and Nigeria.

The 16-nation tournament will be held in the cities of Chengdu, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin and Wuhan, September 10-30.

Australia have appeared in three previous FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments in 1995, 1999 and 2003.

The Matildas are currently attempting to qualify for the Beijing Olympics with qualification likely to be decided when the team travels to North Korea before the return match in Coffs Harbour on June 10.