You’ll Never Guess The Matildas' Hype Song

The nation has eagerly watched and embraced the Matilda’s as they’ve progressed to the semi-final stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Australian women’s soccer team has amassed thousands of new fans amidst their winning streak, providing fans with something to cheer about and a team to proudly support.

What makes the Matilda’s even more loveable, besides being excellent at soccer and boosting the economy by $7.6 million in retail and travel industries, is just how relatable they are.

Vice-captain and left-back Steph Catley has revealed her all-time favourite hype song before the games, and it’s none other than Strawberry Kisses by Nikki Webster.

“It’s a banger of a song,” Catley revealed in a recent Matilda’s social media video, per the Sydney Morning Herald. “It’s iconic. I had it as a CD in my Walkman. It was a single, and I just listened to it over and over again, so it reminds me of my childhood. It’s happiness in a song, and it just gets me going on my day. Do you not like Strawberry Kisses? Well, I don’t like you.”

@matildas

Steph Catley: Number 1 "Strawberry Kisses" fan! 🍓💋 #Matildas #FIFAWWC #TilitsDone

♬ original sound - CommBank Matildas - CommBank Matildas

Other songs that make Matilda’s pre-game playlist include Unstoppable by Sia, 5, 6, 7, 8 by Steps, Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like A Woman, Afrobeats tune Rush by Ayra Starr and many more.

Jeff Franzel, a co-writer of Strawberry Kisses, took to Facebook upon hearing about the Matilda’s love for the song, writing, “I just found out that my song ‘Strawberry Kisses’ is the unofficial theme song for The Matilda’s Woman’s soccer team in Australia.

“75,000 people were at the stadium last night singing ‘I’ve been missing your Strawberry Kisses’. It was a #1 hit in 2002 by Nikki Webster, co-written with Andy Marvel and Marjorie Maye. They are in the quarter-finals now.

“Universal Publishing is doing heavy promotion trying to revise the song. Some of the soccer players are saying it’s their ‘anthem’ song.”

Strawberry Kisses debuted at #2 upon its June 2001 release and stayed in that spot for seven non-continuous weeks on the ARIA Singles Chart.

The Matilda’s will play against England for the FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-final. The match will be aired for free on Channel 7 and 7plus from 8 pm AEST; all games will also be available to watch via Optus Sport.