The Matildas have overcome Mexico in Sydney, where Caitlin Foord iced a frenzied end-to-end match with a goal to mark her 150th cap.
Tuesday night’s 3-1 win was a spectacle of stark contrast to Saturday’s first friendly against the world No.28 nation, leaving that incoherent stoppage-time 1-0 loss behind in Newcastle and treating the 18,441 at Commbank Stadium to a fluid performance only let down by several defensive lapses.
Alanna Kennedy continued her renaissance with her sixth international goal of 2026, and Sam Kerr forced a Mexico own goal, in a match featuring a combined total 34 shot attempts, 10 on target, eight corners and two yellow cards. And, importantly, a Matildas win as they prepare for next year’s World Cup.
“We worked on a couple of things after the game on Saturday and a lot of those things came to life,” Montemurro said after the match. “We got what we wanted out of these games in terms of growth now leading into the World Cup. So for me, it was a successful little tournament.”
Named as captain to celebrate her milestone match, Foord led an almost identical starting XI for the second and final friendly of the series, with Emily Van Egmond and Amy Sayer replaced by Clare Wheeler and Hayley Raso. But that’s where the similarities ended.
This time, it was the Matildas who walked away as scene-stealers, opening the scoring in the 22nd minute when Raso won Australia the first corner of the match. Taken short by Steph Catley, the ball eventually twisted towards Kennedy for a deflected finish. And so maintains Kennedy’s form as a defender-turned-goalscoring defensive midfielder.
Several mistakes and intercepted backpasses between the Matildas backline early in the first half were soon punished when Mexico equalised in the 26th minute. It came courtesy of Saturday night’s sole goalscorer, Diana Ordonez, who was rewarded with a starting spot in Tuesday’s line-up and neatly tapped the ball into the back of the net after teammate Angelique Saldivar intercepted a poor pass between Wini Heatley and Arnold.
Ten minutes later, Australia were back in front. Calls for a penalty kick were disregarded by the referee after Raso made contact with Nicolette Hernandez inside the box. Lucky, too, because Carpenter chased after it and crossed to Kerr, whose shot caught Barreras on the way into the net for a Mexico own goal.
Foord sealed the match in the 70th minute when, after the referee once again ignored a penalty for a Reyna Reyes shirt pull, Foord broke free and – just as she did as a 16-year-old making her Matildas debut – scored.
Despite the win, it was a troublesome night for the Matildas’ defence. Several mistakes from centre-back Heatley were enough for Montemurro to substitute her at half-time, replacing her with Charlie Rule. Rule was thrust straight in, narrowly avoiding conceding a goal when she failed to meet the end of another back-pass from Raso, and also copping a yellow card.
“I think there were two big chances for Mexico through our mistakes,” Montemurro said. “And then there was one in the second half, where I think Charlie and [Raso] got a bit confused. They’re the things that at World Cup level we cannot afford to make. Thank god we’re making them now and I don’t think they’ll make them again.”
Matildas fans finally got their display of young talent when Montemurro, pacified by the 3-1 scoreline, made five substitutions after the 70th minute.